Darius Garland’s 51 not enough to lead short-handed Cavaliers vs Wolves

Cleveland Cavaliers have now lost four consecutive contests

The Cleveland Cavaliers continue to struggle, failing to complete a furious comeback attempt to surrender a 129-124 decision at home against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Despite a massive fourth-quarter rally led by Darius Garland, the undermanned Cavs team simply ran out of time at the endgame.

Garland, who tallied the NBA’s first 50-point performance this season, had struggled offensively in the past few games since returning from an eye injury sustained on opening night. Tonight was very different.

With All-Star teammates Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen both sitting out due to ankle injuries, the 22-year-old floor general took over, scoring 27 of his career-best 51 points in the final period. He also had six assists while knocking down an uber-efficient 10-for-15 clip from beyond the arc.

However, a lethargic start once again proved too much to overcome for the Cavs, who surrendered 40 points to Minnesota while only managing to score half of that number in the opening period. Needless to say, digging yourself a 24-point hole is simply a recipe for disaster. Quite a crumy way to debut the team’s new City Edition jerseys.

The Cavs are now on a slippery slope

Cleveland cannot simply bank on star guards Darius Garland or Donovan Mitchell to tow them to the finish line every night, because even magnificent performances by either player were not enough, as seen in the recent losses.

The defense really needs to step it up, and they have the capacity to do so. Being one of the best defensive teams in the league last season was the primary reason they were able to compete for a postseason berth–but the lack of offensive firepower became their Achilles heel.

Now that the offense is undoubtedly more potent, head coach J.B. Bickerstaff and the rest of the coaches need to figure out how to unlock their potential on the other end of the floor. They still have most of their best weapons on that end after all.

After winning seven straight, the suddenly 8-5 Cleveland Cavaliers have since given up four consecutive painful losses and will have a daunting task trying to arrest the skid against the conference-best Milwaukee Bucks on the road on November 16.