The Cleveland Cavaliers upset their Eastern Conference foe, the Boston Celtics on Sunday night 115-111. The heavyweight tilt was a rematch of last season’s Eastern Conference semi-finals and NBA Cup game on Nov. 19, in which the Celtics won both. This time was different though, Donovan Mitchell poured in 20 points in the fourth quarter to see the Cavs to victory. However, it was Darius Garland that Garland’s teammates and head coach Kenny Atkinson praised after the game, impressed with his defensive display.
Cavs Coach and Teammate Heap Praise on Guard Darius Garland After Celtics Win
“I just told him [Garland] in the locker room I don’t want to hide him anymore,” Atkinson said in a postgame press conference. “You know, it’s playoff basketball he’s got to accept the challenge. We did do some different things tactically to help him out a little bit. But we want 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, he’s shown he can.”
Garland was switched onto Celtics superstar Jayson Tatum down the stretch of the game. Garland is seven inches shorter than Tatum but denied the star twice down the stretch, propelling the Cavs to a huge win.
“They were hunting me out every possession,” Garland said. “I’m going to take the challenge and try and make it as difficult as I can… I was just trying to make sure I make it a little more difficult for JT [Tatum] to get off.”
Since being drafted in 2019, Garland has not been known for his defense. At 6-foot-1, he is slightly undersized in today’s NBA, but the former All-Star showed how good he can be when needed.
Additionally, it was Mitchell’s night as he scored a game-high 35 points, while not missing a single of his six shots in the fourth quarter. But, after the game, he also praised Garland’s defensive effort when asked postgame.
“Phenomenal, I think when you watch the game as a fan, you see the guy maybe scoring in the two-point range,” Mitchell said. “But at the end of the day, they [Boston] are a three-point shooting team. If they’re taking tough contested twos and he’s continuing to body him and make it tough, we’ll live with that.”
Garland’s stops on Tatum at the end essentially sealed the game for Cleveland. In two matchups against the Celtics, Boston has continually targeted Garland on the defensive end. However, in 19 shot attempts with Garland as the primary defender, Tatum is shooting 42.1% from the field.
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It is still just a regular season game, but the Cavs faced some adversity coming into the Celtics matchup. Cleveland came in on a two-game losing streak and another loss would see Boston leap the Cavs in the East standings. Garland’s huge defense and Mitchell’s impressive fourth quarter helped the Cavs outlast their biggest rivals this season. A win like this does wonders for the team’s confidence and will be huge when the two squads inevitably meet again.
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