The Cleveland Cavaliers were hoping to get guard Darius Garland back on Friday for a key matchup with the Boston Celtics, but that won’t be the case. Per Chris Fedor, the Cavs star is listed as out.
“Cavs Darius Garland is officially listed OUT for tomorrow night’s game here in Boston.”
Not ideal as Cleveland was feeling optimistic Garland would play. The youngster suffered a nasty eye injury on Opening Night against the Toronto Raptors and hasn’t played since. Garland returned to practice this week and has been trending in the right direction, but he’s clearly still not ready to take the floor.
The Cavs are absolutely thriving at the moment, even without their point guard. Donovan Mitchell is balling out at an MVP level, averaging 28.5 points, 7.3 assists, and five rebounds so far while shooting 36.4% from deep. Cleveland just won three in a row after losing to Toronto in that contest where Garland left early, beating the Bulls, Wizards, and Magic since.
There is no question Garland is a critical piece to the puzzle for JB Bickerstaff’s squad, but it’s very promising to see them still win ballgames when he’s sidelined. That shows the depth of this Cavs roster. Mitchell is fully living up to expectations, while Cedi Osman is proving to be a very important player off the bench, averaging 15.5 points thus far.
Darius Garland had significant swelling in his eye but it’s subsided and he’s doing much better. With a long season ahead, there is absolutely no point in rushing him back when Cleveland is doing just fine at the moment.