Darius Garland has been imperative to the Cleveland Cavaliers undefeated start. The one-time All-Star guard is on pace to have a bounce-back season for the ages. He was recently named Eastern Conference Player of the Week alongside Nikola Jokic who won the honors for the Western Conference. Garland had a strong message after Cleveland’s victory over the Brooklyn Nets on November 9th, 2024.
“I don’t think this is just any old fluke,” said Garland, via NBA TV. “We’ve played some really good teams out of these 11 games, and we’ve had some great challenges. Even tonight we had a little bit of adversity, we had some challenges going through the entire 48 minutes of the game, and in the fourth quarter, we just turned it up a little bit on both sides of the ball and I think we can do that for all 82 games… I think we have a really good chance at being one of these contenders.”
The Cavaliers are now 12-0 and sitting comfortably in first place in the Eastern Conference as the NBA Cup gets underway.
Darius Garland on Pace for Massive Bounce-Back Campaign
Darius Garland’s Numbers
There is a reason that Garland won Player of the Week honors. To start the season, the Cavaliers point guard is tallying 20.2 points, 1.4 steals, 6.5 assists per game, and an effective field goal percentage of 63.9 percent, which is a career-best thus far into the year. What is perhaps most impressive is his shooting from beyond the arc. Garland is currently striking it at a rate of 45.9 percent from three-point land. He is also averaging an offensive rating of 125, a player efficiency rating of 22.4, and a true shooting percentage of 66.1 percent. Garland is clearly bouncing back after an injury-riddled campaign last year. He has been playing within himself and has fit extremely well with the Cavaliers this season.
Cleveland Cavaliers Currently Undefeated
Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland are proving they can co-exist in the same backcourt. To that same token, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen are also showing they can play together in the frontcourt. As a whole, the pieces seem to be coming together for Cleveland. Strong defense, smarter shot selection, and improved playmaking has been a recipe for the Cavaliers’ undefeated start. Whether they can sustain this hot start remains to be seen. However, Darius Garland has been a revelation to start the season from both a team and individual perspective. A second All-Star appearance is not as far-fetched as one would think.
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