CLEVELAND, Ohio — Darius Garland is tired of sitting out games.
After carving up Charlotte for 27 points, 10 assists, five rebounds and two steals on Monday, Garland made it clear to reporters that he wants to play Tuesday against New Orleans. That would signal a milestone that he has not touched yet this season: both legs of a back-to-back.
Garland is 14 games into his season. Fourteen carefully managed appearances after offseason surgery on his left great toe cost him four months, wiped out his offseason, erased training camp and delayed his debut.
Until now, the Cavs have treated him like a priceless instrument, only taking it out when the conditions were right. Front end or back end of a back-to-back, never both. Fewer spikes in workload. Constant monitoring.
Slowly, the All-Star point guard is starting to get in a groove. And the organization doesn’t want to slow him down.
Not because everything is suddenly pain-free or because the toe is magically healed. That turf toe injury is the kind that lingers, the kind players quietly deal with for a year or more. It flares. It dulls. It reminds you it is there every time you plant, push, cut or decelerate.
But Garland is learning how to live with it. And the Cavs are learning how much they need him even when he is not at 100 percent.
“I know there was discussion of him playing,” Atkinson said after the win over the Hornets. “I know he was pushing for it. I don’t want to confirm it yet, but I think there’s a real possibility that he plays.
“He’s moving a lot. You saw him tonight; he had a couple rough possessions. I give the kid a lot of credit. I think he’s playing through a lot but definitely getting better.”
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The Cavs know they are a completely different team when Garland plays. Not incrementally. Fundamentally.
He is the engine of their offense, the piece that smooths out rough possessions before they ever become problems. He collapses defenses with his handle. He bends coverage with his shooting gravity. He turns early offense into easy offense simply by pushing the pace and forcing defenders to run backward.
“He’s a guy that can score on all three levels,” Hunter said postgame on Monday. “He makes guys better as well. He spaces the floor with his shooting. He’s a great playmaker. And his speed, I think getting up the floor is the biggest thing that I noticed. Just the pace of our team when he’s out there is a lot quicker, and I think when the pace is quicker, we get easier baskets.”
You can see it in the numbers and in the feel of the game.
Friday night against Chicago, even in a loss, Garland poured in 35 points. Monday, he followed it with 27 and 10, controlling the rhythm without hijacking it.
“I’m just pinching myself, man. We get DG back to DG level,” Atkinson said pregame on Monday. “And I’m not even talking about the 35 points. I look at it like where he is from a movement perspective, how he’s moving, how he’s changing direction, where his balance is.”
That is the real evaluation point right now. Not the box score. The change of direction. The trust in his foot when he plants hard and goes.
Back-to-backs stress all of that. Fatigue exposes flaws. Soreness shows up faster. Recovery windows shrink. For a player coming off a toe surgery, that is the ultimate test of tolerance.
Which is why Garland pushing to play this early into the NBA season is something to monitor.
This is not about toughness theater. It is about learning what his body will allow and where the line actually is. Pain management is part of the job for NBA guards, especially ones whose games rely on sudden stops and sharp angles.
Garland is recalibrating how to play through discomfort without losing his identity.
If he can do that and still perform at an All-Star level, it changes the conversation around the Cavs.
Tuesday’s matchup adds another layer. New Orleans comes in riding a five-game winning streak, playing fast, physical and confident. And Cleveland needs its offense organized, not just functional.
Garland provides that organization. He gives the Cavs a north star in half-court chaos and a turbo button in transition.
There is risk in playing him on both nights. There always is. But there is also risk in pretending the Cavs can fully be themselves without him.
If Tuesday marks his first full back-to-back of the season, it will not just be a schedule note. It will be a quiet milestone in Garland’s return. One that says his body is catching up to his mind.