Will Darius Garland’s passing shine?

In Saturday’s match-up, Cavs point guard Darius Garland put up 31 points, well above his 21.7 average for the season. Garland only contributed three assists though, a concerning dip from his season average of 8.6. The Cleveland Cavaliers’ 7-seed hopes may rest on whether he can set his teammates up in the re-match.

Darius Garland played his way to his first All-Star appearance this year by masterfully orchestrating the Cavaliers’ offense. Garland does a lot of damage in the pick-and-roll, and will have to take advantage of Drummond’s preference for “drop” coverage better than this:

Garland is capable of hitting the floater or lay-up here and will need to be more selective in finding open teammates in the re-match.

Garland can also take advantage of the Brooklyn Nets’ switching when Drummond is off the floor.

Here, we see Garland let the Nets off the hook by taking a three, when he should be using his driving ability on the bigger Claxton, or finding Mobley underneath with the size mismatch.

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Darius Garland has been excellent at setting up teammates all year, and he will need to continue looking for smart ways to exploit the Nets’ defense. Though he is a skilled shooter, he should help the Cavs win the war in the paint against the iffy Brooklyn Nets defense.