The Cleveland Cavaliers remain one of the few undefeated teams in the Association. On Monday night, they improved to 4-0 with a 110-104 victory over the New York Knicks. The Cavs were led by Darius Garland in this matchup, who had a career night with 34 points.
Garland has faced his fair share of criticism over the last year. However, Donovan Mitchell came to his defense following the win and had a strong message for the haters.
Via Cleveland.com:
“I just want everybody who was on that side to stay on that side when it comes to him. I don’t want there to be a switch-up. I know who a lot of y’all are,” Mitchell said in reference to the incessant criticism Garland received in the last year. “There are times throughout your career when you have years like that. Obviously, he was going through things personally. You have to grow. You have to figure it out. A lot of people said he couldn’t.”
Garland was very efficient in the victory, shooting 12 for 19 from the field and 5 for 8 from three-point land. He’s averaging 19.2 points, 5.0 assists, and 2.0 rebounds so far in this young campaign.
The Cavs guard found his name in trade rumors last season, but Cleveland remained committed to their backcourt duo of Garland and Mitchell, who are still looking to lead the franchise to the Promised Land.
Spida has full belief in his teammate and expects a big season out of him:
“I’m happy for him because he went through a lot of BS last year,” Mitchell said of Garland. “You have to learn from it, and you have to grow. Sometimes it’s going to suck, and I think he felt that. It’s a four-game sample but I have no doubt that’s who he is going to be for us this season. That’s who he was when he was drafted. That’s who he was when he was an All-Star. I know what type of player he is. I know we can fit together. You’re seeing it.
“This is probably the best four games that we have continually put together. That is going to continue because we are going to continue to believe in what we can do. There is a confidence about him this year.”
Garland missed six weeks in 2023-24 with a fractured jaw and put up career-low numbers from an efficiency standpoint. It’s a new season, though, and the former Vanderbilt standout clearly has no shortage of motivation to prove the doubters wrong and continue to perform at a high level for the Cavs.
