Although the Boston Celtics are seemingly running away with the top seed in the Eastern Conference, the Cleveland Cavaliers still can’t take their foot off the gas as they look to guarantee at least a No. 2 seed come playoff time. The Cavs helped that cause by stopping their two-game losing skid and defeating the New Orleans Pelicans on the road, 116-95, Wednesday night.
Darius Garland showed out anew for the Cavs, as he led the way for his team in the showdown against the Pelicans with 27 points along with 11 assists while draining 10 of his 16 attempts from the field and hitting six 3-pointers on 10 tries from behind the arc. It was another offensive masterclass that left teammate and Cavs superstar guard Donovan Mitchell in awe.
“Tonight what you saw was, I think, one of his best games that I’ve seen,” Mitchell said in the locker room after the Cavaliers victory (h/t Bally Sports Cleveland).
Garland also gave props to Mitchell, who saw action for the first time after missing seven games because of a bruise on his left knee. Even though Mitchell seemed rusty, going just 5-for-16 from the floor for 14 points, Garland knows Mitchell positively impacts Cleveland’s offense beyond what the box scores say.
“He attracts so many people on the offensive end for us. You have to really load up on him,” Garland shared (via ESPN).
“You have to respect what he does and opens up a lot of stuff for everybody else,” the former Vanderbilt Commodores star added.
Selected by the Cavs in the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft as the fifth pick overall of the class, Garland has been on a roll of late. He scored 30 points in a 117-111 loss to the Phoenix Suns last Monday at home. Last Friday, he dropped 34 points on the Minnesota Timberwolves in an overtime 113-104 victory in The Land.
So far in the month of March, Garland is averaging 23.0 points, 7.0 assists, and 3.0 rebounds, while knocking down 49.3 percent of his 3-point shots across eight games.
The hope for the Cavs is that he remains hot when they take on the Houston Rockets on the road this coming Saturday.
