The Cleveland Cavaliers flexed their muscle on Sunday, taking down the defending NBA champion Boston Celtics by a score of 115-111. This was the definition of a statement win for the Cavs, who sit at the top of the Eastern Conference with an 18-3 record.
In the past, the C’s have tried to switch on Darius Garland and contain his production. While that was the case on Sunday, it didn’t work. The guard had a solid game, registering 22 points in 32 minutes of action while dishing out eight assists as well.
After the victory, Garland welcomed the challenge. Via Evan Dammarell:
“I’m going to take that challenge whenever it is,” Garland said. “I’m no punk. So if y’all want to switch and to x me out and try to just hunt me out, that’s cool. I ain’t no punk, though. I’m gonna take a challenge.”
Even Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson believed the team “hid” Garland in the playoffs last season instead of letting him do this thing and adjust to the switches:
“This goes back to me watching the playoffs last year, and, you know, I think they did different things to hide him,” Atkinson said. “My point to Darius [was], ‘We’re not hiding you. You’re good enough. Accept the challenge. You’re smart enough.’ Because I think when you start doing the tricky stuff, these teams are too good. You gotta be able to switch. And if he’s gonna play at the end of games, he’s gotta be able to switch.”
“I just told him in the locker room, ‘You know, I don’t want to hide him anymore,’” the Cavs coach said. “It’s playoff basketball. He’s got to accept a challenge. We did do some different things, you know, tactically to help him out a little bit, but we went back to our regular coverage, and he got two big stops at the end. Didn’t foul. He’s smart, he’s fast, he’s strong. I don’t see why he can’t be a really good defender, and he’s showing he can.”
Garland is certainly proving his worth to the Cavs, averaging 20.8 points, 6.9 assists, and 2.6 boards on 45% shooting from three-point land.
