Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell showered teammate Darius Garland in praise for his play this season and in the team’s win over the New York Knicks on Monday night.
“I just want everybody who was on that side to stay on that side when it comes to him,” Mitchell said of Garland. “I don’t want it to be a switch-up. You know what I mean? I think he said the same thing during an interview or something like that.
“This is who he is. There are times throughout your career where you have years like that. And obviously he was going through things personally and different things you have to figure out.”
Garland finished Monday’s game with 34 points on 12-of-19 shooting from the field (5-for-8 from 3), three rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocks in a 110-104 victory over New York.
After two down scoring performances to open the season (seven points against Toronto and 13 points against Detroit), Garland has scored 57 points over his last two games.
Garland’s strong play against New York is a bright side for the Cavs after he had a bit of a down year in the 2023-24 campaign.
Mitchell shared that it was tough for Garland that he was in and out of the lineup last season (Garland played in just 57 games) and that the team has been preaching to the guard to have confidence in himself.
“Just be confident,” Mitchell said. “We’ve been preaching that to him since I got here. And that’s who he is. That’s who he was when he was drafted.”
Mitchell didn’t stop there, praising Garland for how he’s playing on the defensive side of the ball.
“The biggest thing for me is – his defensive effort is the biggest thing. 34 points, yeah, he does that. Not really trippin’ on that. But being able to slide your feet, get into the spots, be there. Those are the things that we all feed off of.
“He’s been phenomenal. He’s gonna keep being that guy. But I definitely want to continue, and I know it’s only four games into the season, but he’s gonna keep playing like this and I would like everybody who said he couldn’t to stay over there.”
Garland already has five steals and two blocks through four games, and the Cavs are off to a quick 4-0 start in the 2024-25 season.
Last season, Garland averaged 18.0 points, 2.7 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc. He’s already scoring the ball at a more efficient rate this season, averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting 54.7 percent from the field and 50.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Mitchell and the Cavs clearly want to see the former lottery pick continue to thrive as the 2024-25 season goes on. Cleveland will take on the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday as it looks to move to 5-0.
