When Darius Garland returned to the floor in the Cleveland Cavaliers’ game against the Brooklyn Nets Saturday night, the Cavs trailed, 85-79. Staring its first loss of the season down the barrel, Garland carried his team to an eventual five-point win. Brooklyn couldn’t limit his creation off of the dribble, as Garland scored eight points and tossed two assists in the fourth.
For much of Cleveland’s 12-0 start, Garland has fueled his team’s top-ranked offense. After a 2023-24 ravaged by injuries and rust, Garland has returned to All-Star form. He’s playing the best basketball of his career, scoring 24.4 points per 75 possessions on a scorching 66.1 percent true shooting (8.5 points above league average). Both of those marks are career-highs.
As he did during that victory over Brooklyn, Garland’s performance in the clutch has helped Cleveland maintain its undefeated streak to this point. His 28 clutch points (on 11-of-14 shooting) place him seventh in the league. He’s played the fewest total clutch-time minutes (21.2) of anyone in the top 10.
He’s producing like one of the NBA’s best offensive guards, with his burst and confidence both sky-high after last season. Some of Garland’s splits may regress. He’s nailing 45.9 percent of his threes (8.6 attempts per 75) and 68.4 percent of his shots within five feet. New head coach Kenny Atkinson’s usage of Garland should help him roughly maintain these numbers, though.
Through 12 games, Garland is averaging the fewest minutes of his career (29.5). Atkinson’s offensive design, alongside Evan Mobley’s ascension and the emergence of a guard like Ty Jerome, lessen the burden on Garland. He’s spending just 31 percent of his time on the ball (per NBA RAPM), down from 40 percent last season.
With improved spacing and offensive construction, Garland doesn’t have to score and create against set defenses all game. He can still do that when needed, but Cleveland’s off-ball movement generates easier driving chances than ever for him.
Garland’s passing numbers (31.6 percent assist rate, 6.5 assists per game, 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio) are excellent. His career-best 2.1 potential assists per minute while on the ball (per NBA RAPM) best exemplifies this growth. He’s threading the needle and whipping passes all over the floor in the pick-and-roll, dicing whichever coverages teams throw at him.
Atkinson is weaponizing his guards as screeners more than Cleveland has in Garland’s career. As both a passer and scorer, he’s burning defenses on these actions.
tons of credit to kenny atkinson for his end game playcalling and rotations, closing with ty jerome and caris levert over isaac okoro and jarrett allen won them the game
kept calling guard-guard screens and trusted dg and jerome to do their thing https://t.co/RPoqbIfpmX pic.twitter.com/0p3q8lIRom
— ben pfeifer (@bjpf_) November 11, 2024
If defenses trap Garland off of a ball screen, he’ll bounce passes through the double. If they drop, he’ll pull up and score. He places defenses in no-win situations. Among the 37 players averaging at least 12 pick-and-roll possessions per game, his 1.107 points per possession ranks sixth, according to Synergy.
When Cleveland turns to Garland, good offensive possessions ensue. He’s back to competing hard on the defensive end, posting career highs in steal rate (2.3 percent), block rate (1.0 percent) and NBA RAPM’s STOP% (2.9 percent).
If this iteration of the Cavs reaches the mountaintop, Garland’s success will factor in significantly. At the moment, he’s once again playing like a premier guard. As Cleveland continues rolling, his contributions are central to one of the league’s top teams.
