Cavs Top 3: Darius Garland tops the list with career-high in points

Darius Garland leads Cleveland Cavaliers to a massive 4th quarter comeback.

The Cleveland Cavaliers needed all of Darius Garland’s 41 points against the Indiana Pacers. The Cavs had an early first-quarter lead, but shooting woes affected them during the middle portions of the game. Garland came alive in the fourth quarter, hitting 16 of his 41 points from the floor in the last quarter alone.

The Cavs ended up winning 127-124 and moved to 38-27 on the season.

It was a masterful performance from Garland, who was playing in the Cavs first full-game since Jarrett Allen’s finger injury took him out of action against the Toronto Raptors. The loss of Allen saw Evan Mobley, who also had a massive game, move to center, with Lauri Markkanen playing the four and Dean Wade replacing Markkanen in his usual spot.

The Cavs had a hard time adjusting defensively without Allen, which allowed for the Pacers to capitalize on the team’s poor shooting for most of the game. The Pacers shot 50% from three and cut an eight-point lead down to nothing in mere seconds in the fourth quarter. That’s a sign that it wasn’t just Allen’s absence that affected the team.

Rajon Rondo did return to the lineup, but he only played 11 minutes, and Kevin Love and Cedi Osman were largely ineffective on this night. So while the Cavs got the win, it wasn’t a great win.

Darius Garland’s career-high leads Cleveland Cavaliers to win

1. Lauri Markkanen
2. Evan Mobley
3. Darius Garland

Lauri Markkanen’s averaging 16.5 points per game since returning from injury and has four 20-point games in his last seven. He had eight in his previous 37 outings. He had another 20-pointer on Tuesday, with 21 points and five rebounds. He earns the first point for the game.

The two-pointer goes to Evan Mobley who filled in well for Jarrett Allen. The rookie of the year front runner had 22 points, 12 rebounds, five steals, and three assists while posting a BPM of +6.

The obvious three-pointer goes to Darius Garland who had 41 points in the game, a new career-high. The first-time All-Star also posted 13 assists and a BPM of +18.

Yearly Standing:

1. Darius Garland (70 points)
2. Jarrett Allen (68 points)
3. Kevin Love (58)
4. Lauri Markkanen (43)
5. Evan Mobley (39 points)
6. Cedi Osman ( 33 points)
7. Ricky Rubio (32 points)
8. Isaac Okoro (13 points)
9. Dean Wade (10 points)
10. Rajon Rondo (6 points)
11. Lamar Stevens (4 points)
12. Brandon Goodwin (3 points)
13. (*Tie*) Caris LeVert/Dylan Windler (1 point)