‘He’s just getting comfortable’: Darius Garland is looking more like himself

Darius Garland’s first game back after fracturing his jaw was Jan. 31 against the Pistons. Up until the last few games, though, it hasn’t felt like Garland has been back.

Considering how smoothly the offense flowed when Donovan Mitchell was running the point in Garland’s six-week absence, his role on the team going forward has been the subject of much debate.

Adding fuel to the fire, Garland just hasn’t looked like himself since returning.

At his best, Garland is a quick, crafty, elusive slasher who can create his own shot and score on demand. Garland is a perimeter threat as well, and he hit 41% of his 3-point attempts last season (a career high). Complementing his scoring capabilities, Garland is a gifted passer, and has been among the league leaders in assists for the past two seasons (he ranked seventh in the NBA last year and sixth in 2021-2022).

Since coming back from a broken jaw that he suffered in a collision with Kristaps Porzingis on Dec. 14, Garland has struggled to find a rhythm. In his first game back, on Jan. 31, Garland score 19 points in 20 minutes. The next night in Memphis, he had nine points in 24 minutes, although he dished out seven assists.

In a Feb. 7 win at Washington, Garland had 13 points and four assists in 28 minutes.

Garland has looked tentative, especially when driving to the basket. That’s completely understandable in my view. I can’t imagine a more painful or frustrating sports injury than a fractured jaw. I’d be a little gun-shy too. But to make matters worse, his perimeter shots haven’t been falling either.

Fortunately, it seems like the fifth-year guard is starting to turn a corner.

In the Cavaliers’ double-overtime loss in Chicago on Feb. 28, Garland was 7-of-14 from 3-point range in a 23-point performance. And that was just a warmup for Friday’s game in Detroit.

Against the Pistons, Garland hit eight 3-pointers and led the Cavs to a 110-100 win without Mitchell in the lineup. Garland finished with a game-high 29 points to go along with five rebounds and four assists.

Garland is a 38.5% career 3-point shooter. When his shot is falling – he was a scorching 8-of-12 from 3-point range in Detroit – it puts defenders in a bind.

“It makes people have to chase him and make tough decisions,” coach J.B. Bickerstaff told reporters after the March 1 win in Detroit. “Now you have to decide if you want to trap him, if you want to switch, and then all that does is create advantages for us in other places. And he’s such a willing passer, if you trap him he’ll get off of it and now we’re playing 4-on-3 advantage basketball. So we love it, we love to see him be aggressive and get as many 3’s up as he can.”

Bickerstaff had a good perspective on Garland’s progress since returning from the jaw injury, and the unique challenges of having your jaw wired shut for a few weeks.

“He’s just getting comfortable, that’s one of the things,” Bickerstaff said. “In the middle of a season to just completely have to pause – and remember, he couldn’t do anything. He couldn’t lift a weight, he couldn’t touch a basketball. And then he had to work his way back, and you gotta kind of ramp yourself back up.”

For Garland, it was almost like being in training camp again.

“But again, we don’t have time to stop, and he’s just been going game after game,” Bickerstaff added. ” … And I think what you’re seeing now is his confidence is growing, his teammates continue to feed in his success, and he continues to help them. So he’s Darius, and he’s who we expected him to be.”

As the Cavaliers grind through a grueling post-All-Star-break schedule, the real return of Darius Garland should be a welcome sight for Cavs fans.