The Cleveland Cavaliers will be without their All-Star point guard as they take on the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. Darius Garland will be missing the second night of a back-to-back due to rest. He played 32 minutes the evening before against the Los Angeles Clippers. Garland contributed 17 points on 6-14 shooting with eight assists in the loss.
It isn’t surprising that Garland will be sitting out the game in Sacramento. The Cavs have little left to play for in the remainder of the regular season. Their goal is to goal is to be ready for the playoffs. To do that, they will need to go into it completely healthy and rested.
The Cavs are 4-0 this season without Garland. The last time he was unable to go was the two-game stretch at the end of February where he was sidelined with a hip injury. The Cavs were able to defeat the Memphis Grizzlies and Orlando Magic without him then.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson decided to go with Isaac Okoro in the starting lineup in Garland’s absence last month. He’ll likely do that again to keep the rotations as close to normal as possible. We’ll probably also see Craig Porter Jr. receive some bench minutes as well.
The Cavs will have the rest of their regular roster available for Wednesday’s game.
The Kings will also be missing a key contributor. Domantas Sabonis will be missing the game with a right ankle sprain he suffered earlier this week.