Tuesday night in Indiana felt like a throwback. Or at least a reminder.
With Donovan Mitchell sidelined, Darius Garland took over late, scoring 14 fourth-quarter points on a spotless 7-for-7 shooting night to lift the Cavaliers to a 120-116 road win. No turnovers. No panic. Just control.
As Kelly Iko of Yahoo Sports detailed, Garland diced up the Pacers’ aggressive coverage with off-ball movement, slipped into gaps, leaned on his midrange game and, when needed, stepped back and punished prevent defense from deep. Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen did their part as screeners. Garland did the rest.
“A great point guard,” Mobley told reporters afterward. “Controlled the pace. Took the easy ones. Played good basketball.”
The timing mattered. Garland finished with 29 points in a season that has been uneven at best, shaped by injuries and dips in efficiency. Yes, Indiana owns the league’s worst record. Caveats apply.
But Cleveland was also playing without Mitchell, and the Cavs have been searching for signs that their offensive balance can still exist when everything isn’t tilted toward one star.
The bigger question, as Iko frames it, is whether this was a glimpse of what’s coming or an outlier.
The Garland-Mitchell pairing still works on paper. The Cavs won 64 games with it not long ago. Mitchell, by most advanced metrics, has been even better this season. The problem is gravity and efficiency.
With Ty Jerome gone, Max Strus late to return and Mobley still developing offensively, shot creation has leaned heavily toward Mitchell. Garland has not consistently filled the secondary role.
The numbers are rough. Garland-led lineups without Mitchell are scoring at a bottom-of-the-league rate. Flip it, and Cleveland operates like a top-five offense. His efficiency has slipped, his turnover rate is up, and his rim finishing is near the bottom among guards, all signs that toe and back issues from the offseason are still lingering.
Coach Kenny Atkinson acknowledged as much last month, calling Garland “a soldier” and noting that there was no offseason or training camp runway. “We’re seeing flashes,” Atkinson said.
Tuesday was one of them.
Whether it’s a turning point or just a reminder of what Garland looks like when his body and rhythm line up is still unclear.
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Garland and Mitchell..
How long will the experiment last? When can we state conclusions?
How likely that Gilbert steps in and ends the study before Altman figures out which conclusions he’s come to. Is trade deadline Altman’s deadline?
Highest payroll in the league is a real thing. One could argue that is what has gotten Cavs to the recent success, like last regular season. And not Altman.
I used to be pretty hard on Altman here, and don’t really want to go back to that state of mind. I am thankful for last season, the regular season wins.. but wondering if that’s just what Gilbert paid for.. Or if it had more to do with Altman. He’s been given an unlimited credit card to use so we SHOULD look rich. But it’s time to do something significant with those riches. That means in the playoffs when it counts now.
Now that it’s 2026, I took a look at the Collin Sexton draft, 2018 last night.. It’s a little bit alarming. If that was Kobi Altman, look at some of the names that fell behind Sexton, both in the first and second rounds. Alarming! Go take a look.
I don’t blame Gilbert if he feels it’s time to make big changes.