Darius Garland goes into ‘Takeover DG’ mode to beat the Pacers late

Without Donovan Mitchell to save them, The Cleveland Cavaliers needed a heroic effort from someone else as they trailed the Indiana Pacers by nine points heading into the fourth quarter on Tuesday. His All-Star counterpart in the backfield Darius Garland this time he came to the rescue, scoring 14 points on a perfect 7-of-7 from the field as the Cavs cruised to a 120-116 road victory against their Central Division foes.

“It was ‘Takeover DG’ from last year,” Cleveland head coach Kenny Atkinson said after the game. “He really hit some big, big, hard shots.”

Entering this game, Garland ranked near the bottom of the NBA in the clutch. He was 10 of 23 for 27 points, seven rebounds and seven assists against five turnovers in Indiana. He was just 2 of 7 from long range, too. That changed against the Pacers in a hurry.

“Getting some easy ones during the game,” Garland said after the win, noting that the blitz coverage allowed him to work further off the ball. “The back door was just working because everyone was putting on a lot of pressure.”

All of Garland’s shots, except for one long jumper, were made inside 16 feet. He had a two-man game working with both Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen, both of whom consistently found him when Cleveland needed buckets.

“Great, General PG,” Mobley said. “He controlled the tempo of the game. We got into our actions, and he took the open, easy ones. He took (the ball), cut and just played good basketball.”

His most devastating shot was a hard-contested pull-up shot near the free throw line that put the Cavs up 117-114 with 12.5 seconds left. It was a bad game from then on, and Cleveland ended it.

Last season, Garland was among the best in the league in short order with .534/.450/.865 shooting. While this has been the stark contrast so far this campaign, Tuesday was a stark reminder that the 26-year-old is one of the best talents in the NBA when it gets going.

“We need it. We don’t have it, we’re losing,” Atkinson said. “It was reminiscent of last year’s clutch game; he was one of the best clutch players in the league last year. A floater over (Jay) Huff and then that middle shooter on the left elbow, I felt like there were three guys around him and he just kind of fought back. Those are big shots. He was great.”

What’s more, Garland admitted that his back was bothering him as the fourth quarter wore on, making this performance all the more valuable.

“It’s good, though,” Garland said of the pain. “I got the win. That’s all that mattered.”

“That’s the Darius we love and know,” added Craig Porter Jr., who has played an equally large role in Cleveland’s resurgence. “It’s big for him to see all those things happen. I think somebody said no free throws, so to do all that without making free throws and end up on the floor as many times as he did, we know that’s the type of player he is, and we like to see that.”

Of course, the need to exert energy to dig a hole means the Cavs created it. That’s an area the team would like to clean up.

“I hate it,” Garland said. “I don’t like it. We’re not used to it, but we’ve got enough talent to pull through, which is not good. I think our first three quarters have to be like our fourth, so we can sit in the fourth if we have to. And it gives Tyrese (Proctor) some reps, some guys that are all that matters, and some reps that are so important.”

“We’re just figuring it out,” Porter added. “We were down and out, we had to figure it out defensively. They were hitting big shots. We really just picked up our defense and we just came out, 1-5 reds, and everybody can switch with everybody. So it was just a lot harder for them to get into their actions that worked in the first half.”

Garland slowly but surely came around as his toe gradually got better. Besides some the untimely, uncharacteristic changes he and Mitchell had in the past two games, his stride has seemed to quicken, and his vision has never left. If his rebounding starts to return to last season’s form, as it did, Cleveland will be in a good spot.

The Cavs are now 21-17 heading into a home series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, which begins on the road Thursday night.