Darius

Garland

Garland dished out eight assists and played a key role late, scoring 13 of his 18 points in the second half, as Cleveland overcame a late deficit to rally for an impressive home victory against the injury-depleted Nuggets. The 25-year-old facilitator has had a down year overall, especially from a scoring standpoint, averaging just 17 points through 20 games after averaging 20.6 per-game last year.

Cleveland’s starting backcourt struggled on Saturday, as Mitchell struggled with his shot and Darius Garland (12 points, one assist and two three-pointers) only recorded one assist. Mitchell was coming off a 34-point effort against the Knicks on Christmas Day, and the production throughout the season makes it easy to write off Saturday’s performance. He and the Cavaliers will look to bounce back when they visit the Spurs on Monday.

Garland was initially probable for Saturday’s game, so the upgrade in status is unsurprising. With Garland and Evan Mobley available, the Cavaliers have made Nae’Qwan Tomlin inactive.

Garland was added to the injury report Saturday afternoon with an illness. The 25-year-old point guard is still listed as probable with the rest of the afternoon to recover before tonight’s game against the Rockets.

Slowly but surely, Garland is regaining the burst that made him one of the more difficult point guards to defend before his toe injury. The Cavaliers’ point guard shot 6-of-9 from the field in the first three quarters and finished with his second 20-point double-double in three games. While his season-long fantasy value remains low, Garland has been a top-75 player over the last two weeks.

For the first time this season, Grland is available for both ends of the Cavaliers’ back-to-back. Even if Garland doesn’t take on his usual workload, there’s nothing to gain from rostering Collin Gillespie or Tre Mann.

Garland is dealing with a left quad contusion, but it’s possible he’ll get a maintenance day as Cleveland plays the second leg of a back-to-back set. With Lonzo Ball (rest) also out, Sam Merrill could see increased run, while Jaylon Tyson should continue to be involved.

After exploding for a season-high 35 points on Friday with Donovan Mitchell unavailable, Garland’s performance on Monday was an attention-grabber. Cleveland’s guard tandem played at the level many expected before the season began, combining to score 57 points. Garland supplemented his point total with ten assists, recording his second double-double of the season. Over his last six games, the Cavaliers point guard has been a top-40 player in eight-cat formats. Following the win, Garland said he plans to play in Tuesday’s game against the Pelicans.

With Donovan Mitchell (illness) out, Garland was able to step up and have his best outing of the season. A recurring toe issue kept Garland sidelined to start the season and has forced him to miss time since making his season debut, which has prevented him from developing a rhythm. He got on track in this game, which will hopefully lead to more productive nights from him moving forward. He’ll look to stay hot against the Hornets on Monday with Mitchell likely back.

Garland continues to struggle with his shot, and that has negatively impacted his fantasy value. After Wednesday’s defeat, he’s shooting 36.3 percent from the field, which would be the lowest percentage of his NBA career by a sizable margin (previous low was 40.1 percent as a rookie). Add in the lack of defensive stats, and Garland has been one of the more disappointing guards in fantasy basketball this season. There’s still a lot of basketball to be played; hopefully, he can start the turnaround on Friday when the Cavs host the Bulls.