If he is probably sad to have lost this night, Darius Garland will not be able to tell himself that he will not have given everything. Close to the feat once morest Wolves, the Cavs point guard literally exploded to offer himself the biggest offensive game of his career: 51 points at 10/14 three-pointers, the first NBA game at 50 points this season .
He was so hot that Wolves fans expected the worst.
As Minnesota quietly cruised to a win on Sunday night, a man in front of them refused to lose. No, not LeBron. No, not Donovan Mitchell. No, not Jarrett Allen. These last two being absent, it was difficult to be able to count on them. On the other hand, rely on Garland? The Cavs were able to do it. In this kind of meeting which quickly turned to disaster, the players of JB Bickerstaff not finding a solution in the face of the size and the address of the Wolves, someone had to come out of his box. A player had to stand out, screw up the initial game plan, and impose his talent on the match.
That player was Darius Garland.
Yet opposed to a better organized defense, notably offering the arm’s length of Jaden McDaniels in defense on the man as well as the protection of Rudy Gobert’s hoop, Garland had nothing to do with it. And for once, it was the complete offensive baggage that was deployed: floaters, three-point pull up, step back, end of clock, right hand, left hand, unbalanced or not, everything happened. Let’s put it simply: Darius Garland was in the biggest zone of his young NBA career. The basket had to be the size of the Mediterranean in his head, and the poor Minnesota defenders impaled in the face of his brilliant improvisations.
More or less, the feat was in hand. Yes, the collective feat, because with his madness the All-Star dangerously approached his Minnesota Cavs, yet left behind throughout the meeting. Moreover, Wolves fans felt it, if the meeting had lasted a good quarter of an hour longer, Darius would probably have offered the win to his people. That’s how hot he was. But alas, there were only 48 minutes left, and Cleveland was far behind in scoring. Which forced Garland to enter a sad group, that of players who plant 50 points… in a defeat.
But it is the individual history of the Cavs which was also marked this night. Because beyond defeat? Darius Garland joined two Cleveland legends with his performance. LeBron James and Kyrie Irving, here are the only two players who have scored more points than him with this Ohio jersey. What predict a great future, most certainly. We just hope for him that next time, this kind of performance will result in a victory. Because nothing is more frustrating than being on fire, in an evening ended headlong.
Darius Garland career night:
51 PTS
6 AST
10-15 3POnly LeBron and Kyrie had more points in Cavs history. pic.twitter.com/pxuoxKxqwm
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 14, 2022
