The Cleveland Cavaliers are getting ready to resume their 2021-22 season after the All-Star break.
While the Cavs are in great position to advance to the playoffs with more than half of the regular season in the rearview mirror, an injury to one of the team’s key players, star guard Darius Garland, will certainly be something for fans to keep an eye on.
In fact, a recent report indicates that the Cavs and Garland will have to manage the youngster’s injury for the remainder of the season.
“Sources tell cleveland.com Garland’s finicky injury is one that will need to be managed throughout the remainder of the season,” Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com wrote. “Non-contact events like All-Star Weekend, pregame workouts or shootarounds aren’t an issue. As Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff said about two weeks ago, the pain can hit when going through screens on defense or even taking contact on drives to the basket.”
It’s not great news for Cavs fans to find out about, but it seems as though the most important aspect of Garland’s injury will be pain management. That is something that many players in the NBA often deal with at this point in a season.
As it turns out, Garland seems up to the challenge of dealing with the injury. According to Fedor’s report, Garland’s injury would force him to sit out for at least two weeks in most cases. However, the 22-year-old has expressed that he does not want to miss that amount of time now that the playoffs are coming closer into focus.
“In most cases, given the nature of the injury, sources say Garland would need to sit for at least two weeks, allowing his back the proper rest, recovery time and treatment,” Fedor wrote. “But Garland doesn’t want to miss that much game action during a playoff push. The Cavs can’t afford that either. Both sides believe he can play through it and the plan is to continue to work with Garland and monitor how is feeling, trying to find opportunities where he can take a rest night or two. The goal is to get him to the playoffs — if Cleveland makes it there — in the best physical shape possible.”
Garland, who is coming off of his first All-Star Game appearance, is a crucial part of the 2021-22 Cavs. He’s becoming one of the most talented and impactful young guards in the league.
So far this season, he’s averaging 20.3 points, 8.0 assists and 3.3 rebounds per game. He’s shooting 47.7 percent from the field and 37.8 percent from beyond the arc. Clearly, the Cavs are going to need him to be as close to 100 percent as possible.
