3 Cavaliers who have earned a larger role in the playoffs

Cavaliers who earned a larger role No. 3: Darius Garland

Alright, this one doesn’t fit as well as the other two. Darius Garland is an All-Star guard who averaged 35.5 minutes per game during the regular season and put up 21.6 points and 7.8 assists. He was always going to play a prominent role for the Cavaliers in the postseason.

After Game 1, however, a certain possibility loomed on the horizon. Donovan Mitchell is a better player than Garland, certainly a more potent scorer, and he has the big-game experience that Garland lacks. After Mitchell went off for 38 points and Garland was relatively quiet, it seemed possible that the Cavs would settle into letting Mitchell cook, with Garland simply a change-of-pace supporting actor.

Game 2 put that idea to bed, as Darius Garland dropped a mammoth 26 points in the first half and 32 for the game. He hit six 3-pointers, dished seven assists, and was the engine for the Cleveland offense before he handed the baton off to Caris LeVert down the stretch. Donovan Mitchell was active, but he played the role of facilitator.

That’s how this team will thrive. Mitchell is incredible, but both he and Garland have plenty of value off-ball. Both can dice up defenses, and the Cavs have the luxury of going with whoever has the advantage matchup and the hot hand. Garland is the co-star with Mitchell, not the second option.

Moving forward, the Cavaliers will face plenty of adversity, including in Game 3 on the road in Madison Square Garden. There might be a place for Isaac Okoro, Dean Wade or Ricky Rubio in this series, but what the first two games have shown is that Danny Green, Caris LeVert and Darius Garland deserve prominent roles in the games to come.