In September, reports surfaced of Golden State Warriors star point guard Stephen Curry’s high praise of Cleveland Cavaliers young guard Darius Garland, calling him a “flat-out star.”
On Thursday, fans saw the first tilt between the two point guards since the reports came to light, and it was a tale of two halves.
In the first half? Garland gave fans a treat with his ankle-breaking crossovers and deep shooting. He led all scorers with 18 points and shot 4-7 from deep in the first half.
Garland showcased an aggressiveness that has been growing and growing as the season has gone on, attacking the Warriors on offense and sticking with Curry on defense along with wing Isaac Okoro.
While Curry was able to get the last laugh, scoring 25 points in the second half and notching the 104-89 win, Garland showed an ability to carry the offense for much of the first half, and forced the Warriors to shift the defense over to his side of the court on multiple occasions.
In a season where the young Cavaliers guard is breaking out, facing off with Steph Curry and holding his own felt like another step in the journey for Garland.
It takes a village
Following Wednesday night’s 109-99 loss to the Brooklyn Nets, it was clear that the Cavs would need to use their “Next Man Up” approach against the Warriors, especially without big men Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, among others.
On Thursday, the Cavs definitely had an added bonus from Kevin Love, Dean Wade and Ed Davis.
Love, in his second game since being taken out of the NBA Health and Safety protocols, looked quite impressive in limited minutes. The 14-year veteran scored 17 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 21 minutes, the same amount of playing time as Wednesday against Brooklyn.
Wade followed up his 10 second half point outing against the Nets with an impressive 17 points, nine rebounds, five assists night in 40 minutes. His big night in the starting lineup is another reason why head coach J.B. Bickerstaff should keep Wade in the rotation as players like Allen and Lauri Markkanen return to the lineup around the corner.
Last and certainly not least was Ed Davis. While his role hasn’t been glorious, he has been a key member of the rotation after the barrage of injuries. He was key on the glass on Thursday, grabbing 13 of his 14 rebounds in the first half.
“My pride in this group can’t be spoken or measured,” Bickerstaff told reporters following the game. “I admire the way that they scrap and they compete, and the way they do it together. Today was just another showing of that. To be as short-handed as we were, we don’t make excuses.”
“We could have given all the reasons in the world why we shouldn’t have competed tonight. But they did. I won’t take that from them because of the result. We just continue to find ways to get better. We’re not a moral victory team. But we take pride in the character of our guys. They showed their character tonight and who they are. They went out and competed and put themselves in position to beat a good team.”
All three were tremendous examples of that and will be looking to carve out a role in the rotation as the team heals up in the coming days.