The bigger the challenge, the bigger the moment, the bigger Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland plays.
Garland on Jan. 17 was named NBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Jan. 10-16. He led the Cavs on a 4-0 Western swing through Sacramento, Utah, San Antonio and Oklahoma City. He averaged 20.5 points, 12.8 assists and six rebounds in 35.5 minutes a game during the stretch.
Garland’s game against the Nets on Martin Luther King Day at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse was a carbon copy of the way he performed on the road: 22 points, 12 assists and five rebounds in 36 minutes in a 114-107 victory over a Brooklyn team that played without star Kevin Durant. Durant is expected to miss a month with a sprained MCL.
It isn’t just the black-and-white numbers that make Garland stand out. The Cavaliers lost guard Collin Sexton to a knee injury in the 11th game. Then they lost guard Ricky Rubio to a season-ending knee injury Sec. 28 in New Orleans.
The Cavaliers traded with the Lakers for Rajon Rondo after Rubio was injured and then a hamstring injury shoved Rondo to the sideline for the past four games. Through it all, Garland just keeps doing what he does best — take the shot or pass the ball to an open teammate.
PHOTOS: Cavaliers vs. Nets, Jan. 17, 2022
Isaac Okoro started at the other guard spot against the Nets and played 32 minutes. He scored 15 points and made Kyrie Irving earn all of his 27 points. Irving was 12 of 23 from the floor.
“This was a signature win for us against a high-level team,” Coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We had all those excuses — coming back off a long road trip and playing against two of the most elite players in our league (Irving and James Harden) and then our guys found a way. To me, the most impressive thing is you hold a team like that to 19 points in the fourth quarter. That lets you know what you’re capable of defensively.”
The Cavaliers started the day in sixth place in the East, two games behind the second-place Nets. Now the Cavs, 27-18, are fourth in the conference and only 1.5 games behind the first-place Bulls. The Cavs and Bulls meet in Chicago on Jan. 19.
The game was tight most of the fourth quarter. Harden made three straight free throws to tie the score at 105-105 with 3:43 to play.
Garland dribbled down the floor and dished the ball to Lauri Markkanen beyond the right top side of the arc. Markkanen drained it for a 108-105 Cavs lead. Assist No. 11 for Garland.
The score remained unchanged until, with 1:01 remaining, rookie forward Evan Mobley cut to the hoop from the left side. Garland fed him the ball above the rim and Mobley slammed it home to put the Cavs up by five. Assist No. 12. Garland said the basket by Mobley put the game away for the Cavs.
“Guys with that type of vision, they see where the defense is before it gets there,” Bickerstaff said, referring to Garland. “He knows whatever action he’s in, he has the defense. That’s what he’s looking at.
“Some guys have to stare the target down. But Darius sees the defense and he knows what play is going to be made based on where the defense is.”
Garland doesn’t get a prize for his Player of the Week honor. He said his teammates congratulated him in the locker room when they got the news. That was reward enough for him.
![By MAUREEN MULLEN BOSTON — Tanner Houck pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts for Boston’s first complete-game shutout at Fenway Park in nearly seven years, and the Red Sox beat the Guardians, 2-0, on April 17. Connor Wong homered in the fourth, one inning after Boston scored its first run on a balk by Cleveland starter Ben Lively. Houck (3-1) walked none in his first career complete game, which took just 1 hour, 49 minutes. He finished one short of his season high for strikeouts. It was Boston’s first complete-game shutout since Michael Wacha tossed a three-hitter in a 1-0 […]](https://www.morningjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/TNH-L-Guardians-0417-01.jpg?w=525 "By MAUREEN MULLEN BOSTON — Tanner Houck pitched a three-hitter with nine strikeouts for Boston’s first complete-game shutout at Fenway Park in nearly seven years, and the Red Sox beat the Guardians, 2-0, on April 17. Connor Wong homered in the fourth, one inning after Boston scored its first run on a balk by Cleveland starter Ben Lively. Houck (3-1) walked none in his first career complete game, which took just 1 hour, 49 minutes. He finished one short of his season high for strikeouts. It was Boston’s first complete-game shutout since Michael Wacha tossed a three-hitter in a 1-0 […]")
