The Cleveland Cavaliers’ young backcourt of Darius Garland and Collin Sexton enjoyed a promising season debut on Wednesday night. Sexton dropped 27 points and five assists, while Garland added 22 points, six rebounds, and six assists in the Cavs’ 121-114 victory over the Charlotte Hornets at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
The two combined to shoot 16-of-29 from the field and made seven of their 12 3-point attempts. Together, they turned the ball over just four times. (Horners guard Terry Rozier did light them up for 42 points.)
Sexton and Garland’s chemistry — on and off the court — has been questioned in the past. One day into the 2020-21 season, Garland is squashing any speculation of a rift between the two recent lottery picks.
After the game, the second-year Cavs guard was asked what he and Sexton showed in the opening night win:
“That we’re not feuding or competing for a spot,” he said, via Chris Manning of Fear The Sword. “A lot of people think that, but we aren’t feuding. That’s my brother. That’s big bro to me. So, just being out on the floor with him, get him going early on – it felt really good. And he’s always going to be aggressive. So when everyone is just keying on him or locked in on him, that’s when I come in and get open shots and that’s when everyone else gets their open shots. So, that’s what it was tonight – he got rolling in the first half and we all just started making our shots in the second half.
Cleveland drafted Sexton with the No. 8 overall pick in 2018. One year later, they added Garland at No. 5 rather than going big.
Sexton, 21, recorded 20.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game in 2019-20 on .472/.380/.846 shooting splits. Garland started all 59 games as a rookie last season, averaging 12.3 points and 3.9 assists.
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