Garland gets the recognition he deserves for another impressive week.
Darius Garland was central to the Cleveland Cavaliers‘ two wins this week. He was arguably the best player in the much-anticipated showdown with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He provided 18 points and seven helpers in that game while being instrumental down the stretch to secure the victory. Garland followed that up with 40 points on 14-22 shooting with nine assists to close out the Toronto Raptors.
Garland was more than deserving of Eastern Conference Player of the Week for both showings and providing 20 points and seven assists against the Indiana Pacers.
This is the third time Garland has been recognized as Eastern Conference Player of the Week during his career. The first was in January 2022. The second was in November of this season during the Cavs’ 15-0 start. This also marks the third time a Cavalier has received that honor this season as Donovan Mitchell received this distinction as well.
Winning the award two or more times this season is something that only Jayson Tatum and Nikola Jokic have done so far.
Garland came into this week as someone who needed a strong push to make the All-Star Team after not appearing on the first fan ballot returns. This week may not do much in the fan voting, but having a marque performance against the Thunder in a showcase game, while having impressive stats, on top of being one of the best players on a 33-5 team should be enough to get him to San Francisco this February.
Garland is currently averaging 20.9 points and 6.7 rebounds per game on .498/.429/.917 shooting splits so far this season.