Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland is playing at an elite level this season. The third-year guard is averaging 19.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 3.3 rebounds a game. Garland and reigning MVP Nikola Jokic are the only players in the NBA averaging 19.0+ PPG, 7.0+ APG, and .460+ FG%.
In the last nine games, where the Cavs are 8-1, Garland is averaging 19.9 points, 11.8 assists, and 4.4 rebounds per contest, including seven double-doubles. He’s recored 16 double-doubles this season and ranks fourth in the NBA in point and assist double-doubles.
He has contributed to winning as Cleveland is 20-6 in the last 26 games Garland played. The numbers for Garland are big-time as he’s recorded 21 games this season with 20-plus points.
It would be shocking if Garland is not playing in the All-Star game in Cleveland.
According to Rajon Rondo, Garland has turned himself into the best closer in basketball.
“Right now, I think he’s the best closer in the game,” Rondo said about Garland after the practice Saturday. “I played with a lot of talented players. He puts the weight on his shoulders. He pretty much has to make every play for us in the fourth, which he has been doing, especially coming from the west coast trip. You see the point guard play, 21 years old(22), like I said, in those tough environments and coming out with W’s. Every guy he matched up against, so-called All-Stars you want to claim, he busted their a**.”
Garland is the biggest reason the Cavs are 30-19 and third in the Eastern Conference. At 22, the sky’s the limit for Garland. To Rondo’s point, he’s the orchestrator for the Cavs and has made big play after big play. If he continues to play at this level, maybe, just maybe, he can lead the Cavs to the top spot in the East.
Watch below as Rondo talks Garland, Evan Mobley, and more:
