The Cleveland Cavaliers are arguably the team to beat in the Eastern Conference right now.
While it's hard to bet against the defending champion Boston Celtics, the Cavaliers have done a good job this season of showing that they can match up against the Celtics. Cleveland split their four regular season meetings with Boston, beating the Celtics during their most recent meeting on Feb. 28.
Darius Garland knows that if the Cavaliers want to achieve their objective of winning a championship this season, they'll have to get through Boston.
The two-time All-Star guard says the key to beating the Celtics is limiting their threes.
"Try to limit their threes as much as we can," says Garland in a one-on-one interview. "I think they're leading the league in 3-point attempts this year, so we really have to get out on their shooters, try to limit Jason Tandem and Jalen Brown as much as we can. I know their two superstars are going to really try to get off against us and try to try to bully us and get as many points as they can."
Garland isn't exaggerating — the Celtics lead the league in three-pointers made and three-point attempts. The Celtics have three players who rank in the top seven in three-pointers made, including Derrick White (247), Jayson Tatum (240) and Sixth Man of the Year favorite Payton Pritchard (238). White just set the Celtics' single season record for treys made.
The 25-year-old star mentions having to limit the Celtics' supporting cast of players — including Pritchard, White and Al Horford — and forcing the main duo of Tatum and Jaylen Brown to beat them.
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"We really have to take away Payton Pritchard, Derrick Whites and Al Horford," says Garland. "Just trying to limit their threes and some of their points and their easy points as much as we can — just try to let those two guys beat us."
The Cavaliers have led the Eastern Conference since the start of the season after becoming just the fourth team in NBA history to start out the year 15-0. However, the Celtics are only a few games behind the Cavaliers for the best record in the East. They've managed to do this despite star big man Kristaps Porzingis being sidelined for nearly half of the season.
It's worth noting that Cleveland defeated Boston in their most recent meeting without Porzingis. Last year's Cavaliers also lost to the Celtics in five games in the semifinals last year.
However, this year's Cavaliers squad is different, with a league-high three stars representing Cleveland in the All-Star Game.
Garland acknowledges that clinching the No. 1 seed is a big deal since it would mean the Cavaliers hosting a potential Game 7 at home. The Celtics are currently five games behind the Cavaliers for the top seed in the conference.
"Yeah, for sure," Garland says about the No. 1 seed when asked if it's important. "We definitely want to go into playoffs with the No. 1 seed so we can have home court advantage every round. I know that home games really mean a lot in the playoffs so you can have that crowd behind you. You can get sleep in your home bed, you don't have to travel as much, so that really helps a lot. The No. 1 seed is definitely in our sight and hopefully we get it for sure."
The Cavaliers clearly have the objective of winning a championship this season. The team is definitely past the point of simply making it to the playoffs and being happy about it. However, Garland isn't going so far as to say this season is a "championship or bust" year.
"I'm not going to say bust, but the championship is definitely one of our goals," says Garland. "Being in the finals is one of our goals, but I'm not going to say bust. It's a goal of ours. I think we should just keep getting better and better every year, and that's what we've been doing. we've advanced each round and we've been in the playoffs, so hopefully this year the Conference Finals or the Finals for us."
The Cavaliers' star point guard is partnering up with Kay Jewelers as he continues to show off his personal style. Garland is big on showing off his fashion on social media and he explains how teaming up with one of the nation's top jewelry retailers helps him do that.
"Just the jewelry itself is super, super bling -- which I really like — super shiny," says Garland. "I have some swag to my style as well. I got some swag on the court, so I want some swag off the court to go with my fits and the jewelry just fits really well."
Garland says his two go-to products from Kay Jewlers are tennis chains and the pinky rings.
"I'm really into tennis chains," says Garland. "That's probably one of my go-to's right now are the tennis chains and the pinky rings. It was just to elevate my style a little bit. The tennis chain is like a staple for me with the white diamond, the black diamonds, um, and then the pinky ring. It just adds a little bit of flair,. A little bit bigger chunk of diamonds, so add a little bling to it, a little bit to my swag. That's probably my favorite two."