Copyright Sports Illustrated
The left toe injury that Darius Garland required surgery on during the offseason came back to haunt him in the insane 140-138 overtime loss to the Miami Heat on Monday. Early in the second quarter, the All-Star guard attacked the basket and got fouled. However, he remained on the floor, grimacing visibly and smacking the floor as he slowly got up and drained both free throws. Garland went to the locker room a few minutes afterwards and played a chunk of the third quarter before committing a foul in order to be subbed out. He wasn’t seen again, wasn’t made available to the media, and left coach Kenny Atkinson and the players sweating. Donovan Mitchell, who has averaged 31.7 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 6.7 assists since Garland’s return to the lineup, kept it brutally honest but was thankful that this occurred now and not towards the business end of the regular season. “I came back here with him and I said, ‘Hey, this is part of it.’ I’d rather this happen today than in four or five months,” Mitchell said to Cleveland.com. “It’s easy for us to sit here and say he’ll be fine, and he’s not trying to hear that, but at the end of the day, there’s gonna be setbacks. Progress isn’t linear. You’re going to have days where you feel ready, and there’s gonna be moments like this. “The biggest thing is how can we continue to progress and stay with it? He’s fine, he’s in good spirits. In those moments, I know it’s tough. It sucks. And it’s tough for us as a group. “He’ll be good. It’s November. We have a long ways to go. Whether it’s long-term, short-term, whatever it is, we’ll deal with it. I don’t know. At the end of the day, he puts the work in, so he’ll be back and he’ll be better than ever.” Despite Mitchell’s positive outlook, there’s no denying that this is a concerning period for the Cavs, who were in their stride, having won four straight games, and three of them with Garland in the team. While Cleveland competed and went the distance with the Heat in a dramatic rollercoaster of a contest, losing Garland in the third was a blow. He had 11 points on 2-for-9 shooting in 19 minutes. The team pondered holding a Tuesday afternoon practice at Miami’s Kaseya Center, but it will be a recovery day instead, with attention drawn to Garland. The Cavs’ next game is Wednesday night against the Heat in Miami, and Atkinson’s primary focus right now will be thinking about adjustments to his team in case Garland is out. Again.
