Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland didn’t have his finest moment on the court on Wednesday night in the fourth quarter of the Cavs’ loss to the Houston Rockets.
With Cleveland trailing by two points in the final seconds, Garland went to the free-throw line for three shots and a chance to take the lead. Unfortunately, the Cavs star missed two of his three attempts, putting Cleveland behind by one point with less than three seconds left.
Darius Garland misses 2 free throws in a row with a chance to take the lead… pic.twitter.com/zdAsrom1OC
— Cavaliers Nation (@WeAreCavsNation) January 23, 2025
The Cavs went on to lose the game 109-108, marking just their seventh loss in the 2024-25 season.
While Garland’s missed free throws hurt the Cavs’ chances of winning the game – or at least forcing overtime – his teammate Donovan Mitchell showed some major support for him after the loss.
“Our best free-throw shooter missed two. It happens. It’s life,” Mitchell said. “There were a lot of things we could have done better up to that point. He was the same guy that got us to that point. I’d rather it now than in June. Let all the mistakes happen now. He’s been great all year, great in the fourth all year. It happens to everybody.”
Garland’s missed free throws overshadowed yet another strong performance from the one-time All-Star. Garland finished Wednesday’s contest with 26 points on 10-of-21 shooting from the field (3-of-6 from 3) to go along with two rebounds, five assists and three steals.
He led the Cavs in scoring on a night where Mitchell didn’t shoot the ball particularly well (7-of-21 from the field, 1-of-8 from 3). Mitchell finished with just 19 points.
It’s great to see Mitchell stepping up and supporting Garland after such a tough loss. The two seem to have a great relationship, and Garland recently opened up about a conversation he and Mitchell had in the offseason that seemingly changed everything for the Cavs.
Despite the loss to Houston, Cleveland still holds the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference. It also has a healthy 5.5-game lead on the No. 2-seeded Boston Celtics.
Garland and the Cavs will look to bounce back on Friday when they take on the Philadelphia 76ers. Garland, who is averaging 21.2 points, 2.5 rebounds and 6.7 assists per game this season, will look to get back on track from the free-throw line in that matchup.
