Darius Garland is plotting an injury breakout from a nagging problem

Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star running back Darius Garland is getting back on track on the field, and a significant part of that has to do with the improvement of his toe injury. After 27 points and 10 assists in Monday’s game team’s win over the Charlotte Hornetstold reporters after the game that he plans to play against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday. It would be the first time this season that Garland would play back-to-back games.

“I feel better every day,” Garland said in the locker room after the game.

Garland was listed as questionable on the injury report for the game against the Pelicans with a left quadriceps contusion and no mention of a toe.

“I hope so,” Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson said in Monday’s postgame news conference. “That’s a good question. I’ll just say this: I know there’s been some discussion about him playing. I know he’s pushed for it. I don’t want to confirm it yet, but I think there’s a real possibility he plays. Other than that, his minutes weren’t crazy (Monday). Man, he’s moving around a lot. But you’ve seen him; he’s had a few credits for roughing it. I think he’s playing through a lot, but he’s definitely getting better.”

It’s Atkinson relating to possession where Garland drove down the right side and attempted a jump pass to one of his teammates, where he landed on the toe of his right foot and limped to the other side of the floor. Cleveland had to take a timeout to regain his composure. Garland also had another appearance where he stepped on Jarrett Allen’s leg and fell to the ground for a moment. Fortunately, he played the rest of the game and continued to look like himself.

Over the last four games, Garland is averaging 25.8 points on .468/.531/.933 shooting in 33.0 minutes per game. In that time period, he registered a total of 33 assists.

“It’s kind of his evolution, it’s to be expected,” Atkinson said before Monday’s game. “Been out for four months, no offseason, no training camp. Obviously, the season didn’t start. The build-up was slow. So we knew there was going to be a runway, and I’m like pinching myself, man. We’re getting DG back to the level of DG, which was the other night. And I’m not even talking about 35 points (us. Chika).

“I look at it from a movement perspective, how he moves, how he changes direction, where his balance is. It’s like a quarterback coming back from an injury. That’s what you’re looking at. The accuracy gets better as they get healthier, and I just give the kid a ton of credit. I think he’s a part of something, but he plays a part in it. soldier so great to see him play DG the other night.

we’ll see if Garland gets the green light against NOLA on Tuesday night before the game.