Darius Garland had been out of action for months due to a broken jaw he suffered in the game against the Boston Celtics. However, in his absence, the player who shouldered the responsibility of the team was the 27-year-old guard Donovan Mitchell Jr. By averaging 28.2 points per game, he kept the Cleveland Cavaliers alive and successful in the Eastern Conference as they are currently ranked third. But now that Garland has returned, talks are circulating about the team performing better without him and him apparently disrupting the offensive flow and momentum the Cavs have gained since his absence.

Upon listening to these murmurs, Mitchell completely disagreed with them and emphasized the need for Garland for the success of the 216. He said, “That’s more of an external talking point than anything else, especially with all the noise around us to start the year. I’m on social media, so I see it. You hear it. We all do.”

Mitchell further added that pointing fingers at Garland was the easiest thing to do at the moment because of his absence and he pointed out the common practices of this world saying, “We live in this world that always likes to create controversy.” The 5x All-Star even said that we recently were on a great run due to which all eyes were on us. And the success received by the City of Light was due to their team as a whole and not due to any individual.

So Mitchell explained the importance of Garland saying, “We won 51 games with Darius and Ev last year. We wouldn’t be here without them. We need those guys.” Considering all the high praise, how important is Garland to the Cleveland Cavaliers?

The Garland-Mitchell is one of the most prolific duos

Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell have proved to be one of the league’s strongest duos, and have outscored their opponents whenever they play together. In 390 total minutes of them together on the floor, the Cavs have outscored opponents by 9.5 points per 100 possessions. With Garland’s playmaking, shooting ability, leadership, and strength complementing Mitchell’s game, he offers versatility to the team’s attacking strategy.

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Not only that, but his talent to play with and without the ball, as well as his three-level scoring, offers the Cavaliers an upper hand, which makes them difficult to defend. Due to that, Mitchell has dismissed any talks about Garland’s exclusion from the team as he knows and understands the importance of the 24-year-old point guard. Not only Mitchell but even the head coach of the 216 J.B. Bickerstaff believes that Cleveland plays better basketball with the former All-Star on their squad.

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