Cleveland Cavaliers Star Sends Bold Message To Future Opponents

Cavaliers guard Darius Garland had a message for teams looking to get him caught in switches on the defensive end of the floor

Dec 1, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Boston Celtics forward Drew Peterson (13) defends Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland (10) in the third quarter at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images / David Richard-Imagn Images

Don't mistaken Darius Garland's stature for weakness.

That's the message the 24-year-old guard wanted everyone to know following the Cleveland Cavaliers 115-111 win over the Boston Celtics on Sunday night. The defending champions took a page from the Atlanta Hawks, who beat Cleveland in the two games prior, in getting Garland caught up in defensive switches to put their star wing Jayson Tatum in a mismatch.

Garland knows he's become a target, but he isn't going to back down from a challenge.

"I'm no punk," Garland asserted following the win. "So, y'all wanna switch and try to x me out and try to get me out, that's cool. I ain't no punk though. I'ma take a challenge."

The challenge on Sunday just happened to be one of the best young players in the league in Tatum. He had his moments. Like a 6-of-8 shooting third quarter that saw him drop 17 points and help Boston build a 14-point lead at one point.

Fortunately for the Cavs, Garland's partner in crime Donovan Mitchell would answer with a 20-point fourth quarter of his own to help lift his team to victory. When the dust settled Mitchell outscored Tatum 35-to-33, as the latter was held to just four points on 2-of-7 shooting in the final stanza. A lot of that came with Garland trying to make his life as difficult as possible after getting switched onto Tatum.

"I can't say what I wanna say," Garland joked regarding his mentality when he gets used in switches. "Just try to make it difficult for em. Just try to make em make a tough two, or drive into our bigs. That's the luxury we have as smaller guards up there. Just try to make them a driver into our two seven-footers that's two of the best in the league that just protect the rim"

What the Celtics threw at Garland certainly isn't going away. Teams will continue to try and put the six-foot-one guard into their actions in an attempt to create a mismatch. Head coach Kenny Atkinson made it clear though, they aren't going to run from it, especially in big games.

"I don't want to hide him anymore," said Atkinson. "It's playoff basketball, he's gotta accept the challenge. We did do some different thing tactically to help him out a little bit. But we went back to our regular coverage and he got two big stops at the end. He's smart, he's fast, he's strong. I don't see why he can't be a really good defender and he's showing he can."

Garland feeds off the vote of confidence from Atkinson and his teammates. The effort he displayed on defense against Boston is just the beginning of his contributions on that end of the floor.

"It means a lot," Garland said of Atkinson's comments. "He knows the work that I put in in the offseason, even to now. Just gotta stay consistent with it. I'm a smaller guard I know they're gonna try and attack me. But I'm gonna stay in that weight room for moments like this. Trying to cave my chest in, but I'ma keep working."