Cavs Playing Selfless Basketball Despite Injuries

The Cleveland Cavaliers are averaging 31.4 assists since Darius Garland was sidelined with an injury.

A point guard's job is to facilitate the game, manage an offense, and distribute it to their teammates. Darius Garland, who's averaging 5.9 assists this season, does a tremendous job at this for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

DG has been sidelined for the last week and a half and won't make his return for at least another month. That's why the way the Cavs have been able to play a team brand of basketball since his injury has made it that much more impressive. 

Since Garland went down with a fractured jaw, Cleveland is averaging 31.4 team assists a game. They even set a season-high 34 total assists in back-to-back games against the Utah Jazz and Houston Astros.

This is something that has even caught the eye of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff as his team has now won four of their last five games. 

"We know that with the group that we have we got to move it, we got to create for one another and the guys took it to heart. They want to do it together and it's impressive to watch them play a selfless game where it's not a matter of who gets a shot, they just give it to the right person and let the right person take the shot."

Dec 23, 2023; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Craig Porter (9) drives to the basket against Chicago Bulls guard Alex Caruso (6) during the second half at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports / © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports

This group has clearly embraced the next-man-up and group effort that it's going to take to get through this rough stretch. So far, they're doing that beautifully.

None of this is to say the team is better off without their franchise point guard. Rather, it's to give credit to a group of players who are stepping up in a big way. Hopefully, they can continue to do this until Garland returns to the floor.