Can Donovan Mitchell, Cavs Sustain Offense With Darius Garland Injured?

For the first time since the team was officially announced Darius Garland’s sprained right finger, Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell addressed the untimely failure of his partner in the backfield and how the team will have to respond.

“It’s hard, man, to be in and out and keep working,” Mitchell said after the team’s 136-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder. “But here mentally (the challenge shows). You have to dig deep. I talked to him the other day and said, ‘Just keep plugging away. Keep going.’ You feel him like a brother, like a teammate. It will come back, and it will come back stronger than ever. Just keep going.”

The Cavs released a statement on Sunday afternoon regarding the severity of Garland’s injury, saying he would be re-evaluated in 7 to 10 days. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said he will receive intensive water treatment until then. The next step is to return to the field.

“I feel like we dodged a bullet, don’t we? That’s the way I look at it,” Atkinson said in his pregame press conference. “It’s not ideal, obviously, but it could be a lot worse.”

“For us as a group, unfortunately, we’ve been in this position before, kind of jaw-dropping,” Mitchell added. “He’s had some weird injuries. So for us, we just have to be ready as a group to carry that (responsibility) because he’s not there. You lose a guy that’s so dynamic, so we have to do it collectively as a group and lock in.”

Before Garland rolled his right big toe last Wednesday, The Cavs had the third best offense in the NBA during the last two weeks.

Both Mitchell and Atkinson agree the plan without him will be similar to the one Cleveland used to beat the Philadelphia 76ers last Friday. Jaylon Tyson had a career nightCraig Porter Jr. assisted on 11 goals and Tirese Proctor stepped up as they all looked for ways to include Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.

“I’m not saying JT has to go 40 — that would be great — but I think I understand that it’s like, ‘Hey, JA and Evan are low open.’ That’s how we create our touches of color,” Mitchell said. “The other night, there was paint; Craig and Jaylon were going in there, Kwan (Tomlin), Dre (Hunter) and Zoe (Ball). We were all just trying to find ways to get in there and just create and do it as a collective.”

Atkinson thinks the Cavs need to go back to what they’ve been doing all year when Garland hasn’t played.

“Obviously we need the ball handling and our ball handlers to help Don,” Atkinson said. “There’s probably going to be a lot of young guys playing. TP is going to get another shot, he played well in Philly. So we’ve got to do it by committee. We just can’t watch Don play the ball. We’re going to have to have more guys be more aggressive.

“I thought there was a stretch there in Philly where we were just watching Don play and trying to get right in the game, telling Don, especially when the pressure’s on, these other guys have to find a way to get to the rim. We’ve got to find a way to get it to the other side.”

In Cleveland’s second game without Garland as its offensive engine, the Thunder forced 21 turnovers that cost the group 23 points. The wine and gold didn’t have a single 20-point scorer in the stat, and they collectively killed a whopping 37.4% and 8-of-35 from deep.

In contrast, the Cavs turned OKC over 13 times, but had just eight points less than that, indicating “worrisome” decision-making.

“You’re going to have that with young guys, playing some young guys who aren’t used to that role, especially against the No. 1 defensive team in the league. So there’s context to it,” Atkinson said after the game. “But yeah, we’re going to have to find a way to help (Mitchell). I still think it’s a case of him continuing to trust his guys, continuing to trust his teammates. They’re going to play; we just have to do it more consistently.”

The team had difficulty keeping possession due to poor awareness and poor judgement. ClutchPoints asked Atkinson about this strange trend of the Cavs forcing turnovers only to give it back to the other team within seconds.

“Oh, God, that’s not a good thing,” Atkinson said. “It was weird, some of the passes we made (Monday). I felt like in the first half, a lot of the time, we were trying to force-feed Donovan and they’ve got a guy next to him. And it’s like other guys have to bring it up sometimes, right? If you keep force-feeding him, we will and the other team will slow down.

“Normally, when you force a turnover, you should be able to go and get a good shot. That usually works. I’m glad you brought that up; it seems to be happening.”

The Thunder are their own animal and the defending champions for a reason, but Cleveland needs to be smarter with the deadline if they want to continue the momentum that has been building for several weeks. Keep rewarding the bigs, stop trying to get passes in tight windows and make simple plays.