Cavaliers "Concerned" About Darius Garland's Potential Injury
On Thursday night, the Cleveland Cavaliers lost 135-126 on the road to the Indiana Pacers, but the game may not have been the only thing Cleveland lost.
After receiving a pass from his teammate Donovan Mitchell in the fourth quarter, Cavaliers’ Darius Garland made a move towards the basket and was immediately met by Pacers’ Oshae Brissett, who looked to make a play on the ball and swipe it out of Garland’s hands.
Brissett made hard contact on Garland’s hands and the Cavs All-Star guard immediately seemed to be in pain, letting out a scream and clutching at his right thumb.
While he did remain in the game, Garland continued to flex his thumb/hand for the next few possessions before checking out of the game. However, Darius Garland did return to the game a few minutes later with his thumb/hand wrapped up.
“It was bothering me a lot,” Garland said after the game. “I was just trying to go out there and compete as much as I could. The last two free throws, I looked at J.B. and I was like, ‘Ah, I really don’t want to shoot these.’ But I got fouled and just tried to make two. They didn’t go in. Everything hurt. I was playing with a wrapped thumb. I couldn’t really do anything. I wasn’t going to be effective with that. It was already throbbing and swollen at that point.”
According to Cleveland.com’s Chris Fedor, Garland left the team’s locker room after the game with a bag of ice wrapped around his right hand.
There has been no word from the Cavaliers on the severity of Garland’s injury, but Fedor writes that further examination is expected and that the team left Indiana “concerned about a potential absence.”
Garland, who is averaging 21.3 points and 7.8 assists per game this season on 40.0 percent three-point shooting, has already missed six games this season for the Cavaliers, five due to an eye injury suffered in the team’s opening game of the season and another due to knee soreness.
Should Darius Garland be forced to miss time with this thumb injury, the Cavaliers should be alright with Donovan Mitchell assuming the point guard duties in the backcourt, but there are question marks about what this team’s rotations would look like.
One could imagine that Cedi Osman and Caris LeVert would also see added time if Garland was to miss any action for Cleveland.
The Cavaliers will likely give an update on Garland either Friday night or Saturday morning as they prepare for an Eastern Conference showdown against the Chicago Bulls on New Year’s Eve.
Be sure to catch up on the newest episode of The Fast Break Podcast hosted by Fastbreak's own Brett Siegel!
Streaming on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, The Fast Break Podcast takes you inside the league with the latest news, intel, rumors and interviews from those close to the action for all 30 teams. Be on the lookout for a new episodes every Friday.
