Darius Garland believes Cavaliers’ camaraderie is ‘really taking us over the top right now’

Darius Garland believes the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ camaraderie is “really taking us over the top right now.” The Cavaliers have the top record in the East and the second-best record in the NBA. 

“I think our camaraderie is just really taking us over the top right now,” Garland told Basketball Insiders. “We’ve been around each other for about two-to-three years now, so we have some years under our belt. We’re really familiar with each other on and off the floor, which makes it a lot easier, especially because we bond off the floor so much.”

The Cavaliers’ core of Garland, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen has been together for a few years now. 

Cleveland lost to the Boston Celtics in the second round of the 2024 playoffs in five games. JB Bickerstaff was fired as head coach and former Brooklyn Nets head coach Kenny Atkinson was hired as his replacement. 

“The camaraderie is definitely a big piece of our growth,” Garland said. “Everybody’s just improving over the years. You see Evan’s evolution and his progress over the years. Me and Donovan being a dynamic duo in the backcourt, and then Jarrett and Evan being the twin towers down low in the front court.”

The Cavaliers are 61-15. They are first in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating. 

“I thought we were going to be pretty good,” Garland said. “I thought we were definitely going to be better than we were last year, especially since we didn’t play a lot of games together last year. A lot of people were in and out the lineup with injuries and other personal reasons. I knew this year we were going to come in hands-on and really ready to go from the jump and that’s what we did.”

Garland, who made his second All-Star team this season, is averaging 20.6 points, 2.9 rebounds and 6.7 assists.