Does beating Nets without Kevin Durant count as a ‘signature’ win? For magical Cavaliers, it may not matter
CLEVELAND, OH - JANUARY 17: Darius Garland #10 of the Cleveland Cavaliers shoots the ball during the game against the Brooklyn Nets on January 17, 2022 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
CLEVELAND — No player has ever enjoyed the kind of season Darius Garland is having for the Cleveland Cavaliers, at his age. Not even Kyrie Irving, who is good.
Garland is 21, and as fate would have it, was the Cavs’ top star in what they felt was a big win for them — a 114-107 decision over Irving’s Nets on Monday afternoon. He scored 22 points with 12 assists, on the same day he learned he is the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Week after a brilliant western road trip.
Looking at the bigger picture, Garland is averaging 19.7 points and 7.8 assists per game and shooting 46.7 percent from the field and 91.8 percent from the foul line. If it holds for the entire season, he’d be the first player 22 or younger to post those numbers.
When Irving was Garland’s age, in 2014-15, he was an All-Star and co-piloted the Cavs to the NBA Finals, but he only shot 86 percent from the foul line and averaged just 5.2 assists.
“I mean, he literally controls the game for us,” said teammate Isaac Okoro after Monday’s gem.
The Cavs host the NBA All-Star Game in one month and two days, and there is a real chance they could have two All-Stars — a nearly unfathomable thought at this time one year ago. Jarrett Allen (14 points, 10 boards against Brooklyn) is the other legitimate All-Star candidate, joining Garland. There is still time, but All-Star Weekend is shaping up as a chance to be a celebration for all of the good that’s been happening over the last several months to the host franchise.
In the meantime, the Cavs are winners of five consecutive games and finished off the aforementioned six-game western trip with a 5-1 mark. Impressive, regardless of who is on the floor. They now have 27 wins, which, depending on the Las Vegas sportsbook we’re talking about, was the number of games they were supposed to win all season. They’ve already eclipsed last season’s win total.
To recap, Cleveland has one of the best young players, who is getting hot right now. There could be two All-Stars on the roster, in addition to the early favorite for NBA Rookie of the Year, in Evan Mobley (12 points, six boards on Monday). The Cavs are beating whoever is put in front of them, despite having the toughest schedule in the NBA through the first part of the year.
“In the locker room we consider our team one of the best teams in the East, so getting these big wins, especially at home, it means a lot to us,” Garland said.
If there is something missing to what’s becoming a magical season in Cleveland, it would be that “signature” win. Does beating the Nets count, because Irving and James Harden were on the court? Or does the absence of a legitimate MVP candidate, Kevin Durant, not to mention all the other injuries Brooklyn is dealing with, water down what the Cavs accomplished?
“It’s a signature win,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff reasoned, citing not only the pedigree of the two stars the Nets had in uniform but also the fact that Cleveland was coming off a lengthy road trip and was missing a couple of role players.
Last month, it was Bickerstaff who said a win against an elite team was the one thing the Cavs hadn’t done yet.
Since he said it, Cleveland thumped the defending champion Milwaukee Bucks, but Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday were among those missing from that game. Last week, the Cavs beat the Utah Jazz … on the road … which never happens. The Jazz, who had the best regular-season record in 2020-21, were missing Rudy Gobert, the NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Nets are now the No. 3-seeded team in the East, just a game ahead of Cleveland, but we know what they can be when Irving, Harden and Durant are all out on the court. Only, that almost never seems to happen due to injuries, COVID-19 or rules about vaccine shots. And the Nets’ roster was built with the idea that those three players are supposed to be out there nightly. When one isn’t and there are other injuries, like to Joe Harris and Nic Claxton, Brooklyn slides maybe a peg.
Neither Jimmy Butler nor Bam Adebayo played in either of the Cavs’ wins over Miami, the current No. 2 seed in the East. And on and on.
This is not a knock on the Cavs, as none of this is their fault. Quite the contrary, an admirable trait of this team, one of the many real signs of growth, is rarely does Cleveland suffer what is considered a “bad” loss. The Cavs have shown maturity and focus by beating teams that are either ill, injured or not very good to begin with.
Also, yes, in addition to losing last season’s leading scorer (Collin Sexton) and Ricky Rubio for the season to injuries, the Cavs have had their bouts with COVID-19 and minor injuries that have knocked key players out for small stretches.
A “signature” win was obviously on Bickerstaff’s mind last month, when the Cavs inarguably did not have one, and again Monday after beating Harden and Irving. But there is a constructive discussion over the importance of that win.
If fortune is going to remain on Cleveland’s side and the good teams on the schedule are going to be missing great players, can the Cavs (and the rest of us) get a true sense of how prepared this team is for the playoffs, which is where the Cavs seem to be headed?
“I think what we need is the level of understanding of what we’re capable of,” Bickerstaff said. “And to me, when you play against, you know, teams that are above you in the standings, you need to believe that you’re capable of beating them. And the only way that you do that, you know, is by getting over that hump.”
Naturally, the next team on Cleveland’s schedule is the East-leading Chicago Bulls, who are missing Olympic gold medalist Zach LaVine. The Cavs beat Chicago last month, but likely All-Star DeMar DeRozan was among the cadre of Bulls out. In just over one week, the Bucks will be back in Cleveland, and they should be much closer to 100 percent. So maybe then is when the Cavs can truly scratch this item off their list?
But even if they don’t win that one, what Cleveland is doing is laying an unmistakable foundation, not just for the distant future, but for the spring.
The Cavs know they are going to play big, with 7-footers Allen, Mobley and Lauri Markkanen in the starting lineup. They didn’t swerve from that even after the Nets replaced Durant with … Patty Mills, a third guard who is shorter than Irving and Harden.
The Cavs are a team that defends. Brooklyn scored just 19 points in the fourth quarter. Markkanen found himself on Harden, while Okoro was locked up with Irving. Kyrie scored just four of his 27 points in the last quarter, on 2-of-7 shooting. Harden missed the two shots he took and committed two turnovers.
“I was trying to make life as tough as I could on him,” Markkanen said.
The Cavs also know they can turn the offense over to Garland with the game on the line. This is a significant development because for much of the season he was playing next to Rubio during crunch time. Garland was able to be off the ball and play off the calm Rubio brought to the court.
Rubio is gone for the season, and even his replacement, Rajon Rondo, is out with an injury. But Garland has been masterful at the ends of these games, even without those older players helping him. He went the whole fourth quarter against Brooklyn, producing eight points and four assists in those final 12 minutes.
“Super high,” Garland said, when he was asked for his confidence level entering fourth quarters. “Everybody has that mindset that they want to win. So we put everything together and bring that toughness every night, I’d put us against anybody.”
All of this is to say, the Cavs’ season is so impressive not because of any one win, but because of all of them. And it’s OK if it stays that way for a while.
"I've suffered a great many tragedies in my life....most of them never happened". Mark Twain