Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland revealed what he must learn following a 106-95 Cavs loss to the New York Knicks in Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.
“The pace is just so fast, it’s just coming to you really quick,” Garland said, via Cleveland.com Cavs reporter Chris Fedor. “It’s a lot to process. Go back and watch this film, see what we did wrong. Trying to learn from it as much as I can.
“It hurts, but we know what it feels like. We know how playoff basketball is. We know the physicality of it. We know the mental aspect of it. It’s going to make us work hard and we’re going to remember this feeling.”
Darius Garland ended the elimination matchup with 21 points, stepping back for fadeaway opportunities in or near the paint while working both on and off the ball to find opportunities at the 3-point line. He hit one of his six shots from long range. Cavs guards Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert tacked on a combined 45 points. Forward Isaac Okoro added 10 off the bench.
Cleveland would end the night with 13 made 3-point shots on 33 attempts. Mitchell went 3-12 from beyond the 3-point arc, while LeVert, along with forwards Isaac Okoro, Cedi Osman and Lamar Stevens, hit a combined nine of their 15 tries.
The Knicks will move on to face the Miami Heat, who won their NBA playoff series against the Milwaukee Bucks following a 128-126 win on Wednesday. The Philadelphia 76ers swept the Brooklyn Nets and will face either the Boston Celtics or the Atlanta Hawks. Boston holds a 3-2 lead over Atlanta, but fell in a 119-117 loss at TD Garden on Tuesday.
Heat forward Jimmy Butler led the charge for the Heat on Wednesday with 42 points, hitting 17 of his 33 shots in 46 minutes played. Former Cavs forward Kevin Love scored 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds.
