Darius Garland says his game-winner on Feb. 5 was ‘1000 times better’ because it came against J.B. Bickerstaff

Cleveland Cavaliers star Darius Garland might have scored his most memorable basket of the 2024-25 season to this point in a Feb. 5 matchup against the Detroit Pistons.

With the score knotted up at 115 and just seconds remaining in the game, Garland launched a 31-foot 3-pointer.

He buried the shot seemingly in unison with the sounding of the final buzzer, and the Cavaliers earned what was their 41st victory of the season at the time.

After sealing a win for his team, Garland went over to someone who might have been talking trash and had some words for the individual in question.

More recently, in an interview with SLAM, Cavs star Donovan Mitchell spoke on Garland’s game-winner and called the impressive shot a “f— you to everybody.” He seemingly referenced the person who Garland approached after he hit the shot.

“I was trying to [be] PG all interview,” Mitchell said. “Man, that was a f— you to everybody. That’s what that was. That pose, all that was on—I’m sorry. I know, I know I shouldn’t swear. I’m trying my best, but like, that’s exactly what that was. I felt that, too. That’s why I went nuts [after]. Somebody was talking smack—I won’t curse again—the whole game and I just felt like, [he had] a lot of pent up, [like], ‘This is what I really do, and y’all really playing with me. And I should have ended the game about 10 minutes prior, but we ain’t gonna talk about that. But like, you know what? Since we’re here, I’m gonna go ahead and do this. Forget the play that we drew up, Coach. I got it.’ So that’s what that was. He ain’t gonna say it like that, but I’m gonna say it.”

Garland admitted that the shot felt even better because it came against his former coach J.B. Bickerstaff. Bickerstaff spent four-plus seasons as the head coach of the Cavaliers, and the team made a pair of playoff appearances under his leadership.

“I’ll talk a little bit of s—,” Garland said of the game-winner, adding on to what Mitchell said. “It was against our former coach, too, which made it like 1000 times better. … That was something that was totally different.”

Mitchell also implied that Garland sent a message to the naysayers with his clutch 3-pointer from far behind the arc.

“That was basically, like, everybody that was talking noise, just sit here and watch us,” Mitchell said.

The Cavaliers enjoyed their fair share of success under Bickerstaff, but the team never established itself as a legitimate title contender with him patrolling the sidelines. In fact, Cleveland never advanced past the second round of the playoffs during Bickerstaff’s stint.

So far, the Cavaliers’ decision to part ways with Bickerstaff and replace him with newcomer Kenny Atkinson has looked like the correct one. Cleveland is enjoying a far more successful regular season in Atkinson’s maiden season than it ever did under Bickerstaff, as the Cavaliers already have 57 wins, and they could end up with their best record in franchise history.

However, Bickerstaff is also thriving in his first season as the head coach of the Detroit Pistons. The Pistons won just 14 games all of last season, yet they currently have a record of 40-32 and are on track to qualify for the 2025 NBA Playoffs. Detroit owns the No. 6 seed in the Eastern Conference standings and is just 2.5 games back of the Indiana Pacers for the No. 4 seed.