SAN ANTONIO – Darius Garland felt it early on. Hours before tipoff.
Despite Monday’s game against the San Antonio Spurs starting earlier than usual – 18:00 local time as opposed to 19:00 – the Cleveland Cavaliers held a morning result at AT&T Center. There was no horse game. No jokes. No laughter. Everyone was locked up. It was all business. When the Cavs were about to leave for the team hotel near the famous San Antonio Riverwalk, Garland told assistant JJ Outlaw, the coach responsible for Garland’s development, that it would be a good day.
Garland was wrong. It was a wonderful day. The best of his young career, which helped the Cavs lose their frustrating five-game slides and sail past the Spurs 125-101.
The sophomore point guard scored Cleveland’s first nine points. He just started and finished with a career-high 37 points on 14-of-22 shooting, including 5-out-10 from the three-point series to go with seven assistants within 30 minutes.
Garland showed everything. Vision. Bale handling. Pass. Shoot. There were patented drivers, finishes, smooth jumpers and long-range bombs. He swings around screens and cooks defenders in isolation and gets where he wants. He even muscled on the defensive side and picked up two steals and a block. San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich jumped on the bandwagon and tried pressure on the entire court. He used several defenders, some with speed and others with size. The Spurs even switched to the zone a few different times. Nothing worked. Garland had all the answers.
This is exactly what the Cavaliers envisioned almost two years ago when they made Garland the fifth choice in the 2019 draft, joining him along with Collin Sexton in hopes of building a dynamic young backcourt. Although it was a slower rise for Garland, nights like Monday show the potential. He starts looking like the franchise point guard every time. This is why teammates call him ‘DG the PG’.
“It’s all in there. We just have to keep getting it out of him, ”Cavs coach JB Bickerstaff told cleveland.com.
After the shootaround, which Bickerstaff did more than practice, Garland focused on two areas when discussing the blueprint for the win. The same things he played on all season: first and third quarters.
Garland made sure Monday was not a problem. Aggressively early, he scored 11 of his 37 points in the first quarter. There was no energy in Cleveland this time. When he came out of the locker room with more time on the clock and led by Garland, who threw in 14 more points in third place, the league’s worst third quarter erupted during the brilliant 12 minutes for 43. This time, the Cavs just had to protect a lead rather than an uphill fight.
“When we came out in the second half, we just had to come in and play with a lot of energy like we played in the first half,” Garland said. ‘Play with pace, speed, swing the ball around, get open looks. We just kept preaching it in the second half. Looks easy and gets lots of swing-swing passes for 3s. Just go into the ring tonight. ‘
Sexton hacked in with 22 points, kicking back from a weak shooting lead. Isaac Okoro also scored double figures, with 11 points on 4-out-6 from the field and 3-out-3 from depth. Kevin Love, who played his third consecutive game and was limited for a minute while recovering from an injury, added nine points and eight rebounds in 26 minutes.
‘I’m going to go back and watch the movie. Keep my confidence high. Just show that I can do it every night. Keep playing like I did, ”Garland said. “When shots go, shots go. If not, you still have to figure out how to win. It’s just about the players in this team, not just me. We all brought it tonight. ‘
Much of the last piece is about answering questions. What works. What not. Who belongs. Who does not. Garland still shows where he fits in – and why the Cavs never stop believing in him.
“I thought he was great tonight,” Bickerstaff said. ‘We saw his potential in the concept and that’s why we chose him. We believed in its potential. It was a difficult start because of his circumstances. But we knew steps would come. We want him to play with this conviction and confidence every night, because that’s what the point guard is and that’s what carriers do. So if he feels that way, we want him to use it, bottle it and bring it to Oklahoma City on Thursday and then the next game, because that’s the potential we see in him. ‘
Bank lift
Bickerstaff shortened his bench Monday night and went with just four guys while taking Cedi Osman out of the turn again. Well, until the game got out of hand and it was time for Brodric Thomas to finish. That adjustment worked. Behind rugby center Isaiah Hartenstein and Taurean Prince, the Cavs got 42 points from the reserves.
Hartenstein scored 16 points on 7-of-8 from the field with 12 rebounds and three assists. Prince beat by 14 points and seven boards.
Following
The Cavs will conclude their tryout game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night. Tipoff is set for 20:00
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