Report: Darius Garland was nursing a hand injury after Monday’s Cavs-Spurs game

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland was seen icing his left hand after suffering an apparent injury during his team’s 112-111 defeat to the San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.

Garland played over 39 minutes in the game, though his shooting numbers show that he struggled for much of the night. He went just 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the field and made just one of his six 3-point attempts, a success rate of only 16.7 percent.

For the season, Garland is connecting on 42.4 percent of his shots from the field and 38.5 percent of his attempts beyond the arc.

In Monday’s game, the Cavaliers only trailed by two at 29-27 after one quarter. But the Spurs used a big second quarter to take control, outscoring Cleveland 36-22 in the frame.

While a fourth-quarter comeback nearly put the game in the win column for the Cavaliers, the effort came up just short. Not having Garland at full strength may have been the difference against one of the NBA’s weaker teams in the Spurs.

Over the course of the game against the Spurs, the Cavaliers struggled when it came to 3-point attempts, going just 5-of-23.

The hope is that Garland’s postgame pain was just a negative byproduct of a physical night. That’s because the prospect of not having Garland in the starting lineup is something that head coach J.B. Bickerstaff doesn’t want to think about.

Garland arrived in Cleveland in 2019 after playing in just five collegiate games since his only season at that level was ended by injury.

Now in his fourth NBA season, Garland is continuing to develop into a standout guard. He played in his first NBA All-Star Game last season despite again dealing with injury issues. This season, he’s been joined by new arrival Donovan Mitchell to give the Cavs one of the more potent backcourts in the league.

For the 2022-23 season, Garland is averaging 21.3 points, 7.9 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 1.3 steals per contest. His campaign began in uncomfortable fashion when he suffered an eye injury in Cleveland’s Oct. 19 season opener and missed the following five games.

The Cavaliers will be back in action on Wednesday night when they play a road contest against the Dallas Mavericks. Whether Garland will be able to play remains a question mark.