Guard Darius Garland sees Cavaliers’ best basketball ahead
The anticipation Wednesday night centered on the long-awaited pairing of Jarrett Allen and Kevin Love.
The center of the future and the five-time All-Star forward who had played only seven minutes together all season.
But with their team finally almost finally whole, the Cavaliers came away with much more than just a teaser of the potential pairing of their two talented big men.
They moved the ball. They shared the ball. They made clutch 3s. They won all four quarters, Coach J.B. Bickerstaff lauded Darius Garland and Isaac Okoro for their defense on Hornets guards Terry Rozier and Devonte’ Graham.
In that they found hope, but also fuel for the final 18 games of the season.
Their goal of qualifying for the Eastern Conference play-in tournament for seeds 7-10 did not feel so farfetched when they left the Spectrum Center with a 103-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
Darius Garland was so pumped that he nearly tripped over the line of a guarantee.
“This is just a little glimpse. I think we have a lot in store,” Garland said. “We’re just getting started. Super young. Have a lot of growing to do. But I think we’re in a good position right now.
“Eighteen games left? Probably going to see the best basketball that you’ve seen all year from us. Just getting everybody back and locked in and try to make this playoff push.”
The Cavs were still missing leading scorer Collin Sexton, sidelined for the second consecutive game with a left groin strain, and guard Damyean Dotson and wing Dylan Windler, both out with left knee soreness. But in terms of putting all the pieces together, Garland thinks that day is coming soon.
And when it does, believing their best basketball lies ahead gives Garland confidence.
“Probably gives our coaching staff confidence. And players,” Garland said. “We haven’t had a full squad this whole season. We’re just getting everybody back, strength in numbers. When we’re full throttle I think we’re really good.
“Going to see in a couple of games hopefully. Everybody will be back playing Cavaliers basketball. You know the vibes. Boom, boom, boom.”
To those trying to keep a straight face on Zoom, whether those booms are dunks or 3-pointers wasn’t clear. Perhaps they were fireworks. But Allen saw (or heard) the booms, too, as he returned after missing the previous eight games with a concussion.
“We’ve come a long way since I came here,” said Allen, acquired in trade from the Brooklyn Nets on Jan. 14. “We had that 10-loss streak. Players going down, trades. just losing players, and we’ve battled through all of that. And that just shows that the mental toughness is there.
“And now that all of us are young and proving we still have more than just another step we have multiple steps to go. So it’s really exciting just to see where this team can go and just how far we can get.”
In his fourth season, Allen said basketball IQ is where the Cavs improved the most while he was out.
“Basketball skill-wise, that’s going to come, everybody’s going to get better as they get older,” Allen said.
“But just IQ-wise, knowing the right position to be in, knowing the right defensive spot to be in, just everything like that, that’s going to get us to the next level.
“The skill is going to come, we’re in the gym working every day. But at the end of the day, it’s the IQ things that we have improved on those two weeks.”
There are statistics to consider. Garland is averaging 23.5 points and 6.8 assists in his past four games, hitting .537 from the field and .451 from beyond the arc. The Cavs have won three in a row on the road.
But it seems just as much about the intangibles as the tangibles.
Garland said he’s seen the Cavs mature, which sounds strange coming from a 21-year-old point guard.
“Growth. Attention to detail,” Garland said when asked what he saw Wednesday night.