Garland’s injury played a significant factor in why the Cavs didn’t look like themselves in the playoffs.
Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland didn’t look like his normal self when he tried to return in Game 3 of the second-round series against the Indiana Pacers. The speed and shiftiness that allowed him to be an All-Star this season weren’t there. His sprained toe is to blame for that.
“A lot of y’all wouldn’t have been out there,” Garland said during the team’s exit interviews on Wednesday, and he’s right.
Trying to do quick stop-and-start motions with an injured toe is incredibly tough. He tried using a steel plate and toe spacers in his shoe to help with the pain and mobility, but that can only take you so far.
Garland was still helpful to his team. They needed all the ball handlers and scoring options they could find with the pressure that Indiana’s defenders were playing with. His presence in Game 3 was a much-needed shot in the arm that allowed them to take that game.
“It means a lot,” said Donovan Mitchell about Garland after Game 3. “Twenty percent of you, 30% of you is all we need. He’s fighting and gutting it out. [I have] a lot of respect for him.”
Unfortunately, the Cavs needed more than just his presence to overcome the Pacers.
As Mitchell alluded to, Garland wasn’t close to his normal self when he did return. He was the first to admit that.
“I definitely wasn’t myself out there,” Garland said. “It was pretty uncomfortable. But like I said, trying to do anything to win the game.”
Garland averaged just 14 points on .342/.167/.929 shooting splits with four assists and two rebounds a game in the three playoff games against Indiana. Those aren’t the numbers we’ve been accustomed to seeing from him this season.
Even though he was able to return, it was frustrating not to be able to play up to his normal standard.
“That’s what makes it harder for me,” Garland said. “Like, I’m there for the guys, but I’m not there for the guys. I’m not 100%, so that’s what’s making it pretty tough.”
There was a lot of talk about whether or not Garland was tough enough to play through the injury at the beginning of the series. That skepticism seems unfounded now, but it’s something Garland had to deal with.
“Everybody’s gonna have an opinion,” Garland said. “I know what I was going through physically. So, like I said in Indiana, a lot of y’all don’t know what I was going through physically.”
At least he was able to help his team and be on the court when their season was on the line. That’s all you could reasonably ask him to do given the situation.
“I’m just happy I just got out there because I didn’t want to leave them out,” Garland said. “I want us to be fully healthy, of course, but we had all our guys out there though. Even if we weren’t all 100%, we were all out there.”