Darius Garlands scoring vow before the Cleveland Cavaliers marquee matchup against the Boston Celtics aged horribly.
Coming into Tuesday nights matchup, the Cavaliers had won 15 straight games, only needing another win to join the Golden State Warriors as the only teams in NBA history to start a season having won 16 straight games. The Warriors ultimately would win 24 straight games en route to setting the record for most wins in a single season with 73.
With the Cavaliers looking to set history their own way, all eyes were on Cleveland to see if it could continue the streak against the defending champions. Before the game, Garland told TNT Sports Shaquille ONeal that he didnt need to have an offensive explosion for the Cavaliers to win.
When told by ONeal that Garland needed to score at least 40 points for the Cavaliers to win, the star guard replied: You know, we got a lot of talented guys on this team, so I dont have to score 40 every night. But if it needs to be, it needs to be.
And the Cavaliers certainly could have used Garlands scoring punch as the Celtics snapped Clevelands streak at 15 in the 120-117 loss in Boston. Of note, the 24-year-old only scored eight points on an unsightly 3-of-21 shooting from the field, missing all of his attempts from beyond the arc in one of the worst performances of his career.
Whats more, Garland noted that the Cavaliers needed to focus their attention on making sure neither Jayson Tatum nor Jaylen Brown had an offensive explosion for Cleveland to win. While the Cavaliers were able to keep Brown in check, holding him to 17 points on 17 shots, Tatum found his stroke throughout the game.
Darius Garland had an extremely forgettable night against the Boston Celtics, shooting 3-of-21 from the floor (
Photo by Winslow Townson/Getty Images)
In his 37 minutes of action, Tatum scored 33 points on 11-of-22 shooting from the field, 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, to go along with his 12 rebounds, seven assists and two steals. That kind of performance was exactly what Garland and the Cavaliers attempted to prevent before the game.
No, were just coming in with confidence, Garland said when asked if their meeting against the Celtics had any significance. I know you guys dont want to hear this but this is another game for us, but it is a big one for us, especially with the NBA Cup on the line.
So were just coming in with that mindset that we just have to go in and try to make somebody else beat us instead of their two guys.
After the game, Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson addressed Garlands extremely poor shooting night, dismissing any notion that the star could have been dealing with an injury. No, no, not part of it, Atkinson told reporters after the game. Hes been phenomenal.
Listen, this isnt an excuse: The density of our schedule has been enormous and hes rolled it out every night. Hes playing unbelievable. I think he hit a wall tonight. He wont say that Ill say it. Its part of the NBA, its too bad it happened tonight. But like I said, hes been going at it really hard for us over this first stretch of the schedule.