The Cleveland Cavaliers are off to a solid start to the season with a record of 2-1 despite the loss of their all-star point guard Darius Garland in the first game of the new season. Darius Garland has missed the last two games with an eye injury that he sustained from Gary Trent Jr in the second quarter of the Cavaliers loss to the Toronto Raptors. As the Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Orlando Magic tonight at home Darius Garland will miss his third straight game. According to Underdog NBA via Twitter.
There is some good news for Cavalier fans as Garland did participate in some drills at the team’s last practice as he wore protective goggles.
In the absence of Darius Garland, the Cavaliers’ other all-star guard Donovan Mitchell has been lighting up opposing defenses as he has scored a total of 100 points in his first three games as a Cleveland Cavalier. Mitchell has also been a leader on defense as he looks like he has been revived being around such a great young team.
Donovan Mitchell holding is the Cavaliers together
The Cavaliers of last season were completely lost without Garland on the court but now with the addition of Donovan Mitchell, the Cavs are still a force to be reckoned with without one of their best players. Garland had a breakout season last year averaging 27 points per game with 8 assists per game to top it off.
Even though the Cavaliers lost two straight play-in games and missed the playoffs they had their first winning season in the post-LeBron James era and now have the experience and leadership to be a very scary team in a 7 game series.
The Cleveland Cavaliers are looking to move to 3-1 in the young season against an Orlando Magic team that has yet to win a game this season and are 0-4. Donovan Mitchell will lead the rest of the young Cavaliers into battle as they look to continue their two-game win streak and go on an early run in the Eastern Conference.
A speedy recovery?
Reports are saying Darius Garland could be back on the court as early as Friday so if the Cavaliers can continue to hold out Garland seems to be making great progress with his eye injury. Only time will tell if Garland will in fact be back on Friday but all signs are pointing toward that as the one-time all-star point guard’s return date.
