Darius Garland

2022 - 11 - 2

Post cover — Image courtesy of "NBA.com"

Cavaliers' Darius Garland (eye) makes return Wednesday vs. Celtics ... (NBA.com)

CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers All-Star point guard Darius Garland is back in the starting lineup after missing five games with a left eye injury and will play ...

“He’s going to play without the goggles,” Bickerstaff said. The 22-year-old sustained a cut under his eyelid. 19, when he was inadvertently scratched in the season opener at Toronto.

Darius Garland returns with 29 in Cavs' OT win after 5-game absence (ESPN)

Darius Garland scored 29 points in his return to the Cavaliers' starting lineup Wednesday night after missing the last five games with a left eye injury.

He added three assists, two steals and moved around the floor with his usual fluidity. "He really set the tone," Mitchell said. "We were winning and I was happy about that, but I wanted to be on the floor with them and feel that energy," he said. But back doing what he does best, Garland led the Cavs to another signature win in this young season. "They're hungry and they want to make some noise," Brown said. Afterward, Garland lamented not having his sunglasses as he squinted from the lights in the arena's TV studio.

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland returning to rotation, per ... (Fear the Sword)

Garland has not played since the season opener in Toronto against the Raptors.

Adding Garland back into the fold won’t be fully seamless for the Cavaliers. [Toronto Raptors](https://www.raptorshq.com), has missed the last five games for the Cavaliers. But, when things start firing on all cylinders, things are bound to get explosive on the court offensively for Cleveland.

Darius Garland returns, shares details of scary eye injury: 'I was ... (cleveland.com)

Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland went into detail about his scary eye injury suffered on opening night.

Garland had the same worry. Garland had just gotten swiped across the face by Raptors swingman -- and fellow Klutch Sports client -- Gary Trent Jr. It was late in the second quarter of the season opener against the Toronto Raptors on Oct.

'I was super scared': Cavaliers' Darius Garland expected surgery, to ... (Akron Beacon Journal)

All-Star guard heeds Donovan Mitchell's words in victorious return, holds no grudge against Gary Trent Jr. over eye injury: 'It was a basketball play'

I was just working out and most of it was on the left-hand side because I couldn't see going right,” he said. “I have a lot of notes and stuff that I was writing down, so, I'm ready for the next time we play those other teams.” But I just wanted to be on the floor with them. “That was definitely the hardest part about it. “He was ready to go. “And sitting over there and just have to wait and just seeing everybody get loose warming up and going through full practice and stuff, it was just kinda aggravating. “There was not any shyness to him. “I said, ‘Come out and just go,’ and he said, ‘No, I’m going to pass.’ I ain’t going to say what I said, but [I was] like, ‘No. He was not required to wear goggles and said the lights on the court were hardly an issue. “The doctor said I didn't have to wear any goggles or anything. [three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell](https://www.beaconjournal.com/story/sports/pro/cavs/2022/10/13/cleveland-cavaliers-backcourt-donovan-mitchell-darius-garland-jell-utah-jazz-trade-jb-bickerstaff/69551841007/), acquired in a [Sept. “I was super scared.

Darius Garland is back from eye injury, and the Cavs look like a ... (The Athletic)

In his first game back, Garland had the highest-scoring opening quarter of his career with 14 points.

“I had a great time on the bench,” Garland said. He’s going to score the ball, and his passing, man, he’s creating, finding guys, making the game look easy and really kind of sparked us, especially in that first half. As Garland sat on the bench during games, he saw his teammates fight for wins with contributions up and down the roster. Garland described the two weeks he missed with the eye injury as “super tough.” Garland’s first play of the game was a pass to He didn’t wear protective goggles during Wednesday’s game, saying that the doctors told him it wasn’t required and that his “eye was healing pretty good.” He knocked down a 3-pointer, had a steal and pulled up for a jumper about halfway through the first quarter. In Garland’s first game back, and first full regular-season game, he had the highest-scoring opening quarter of his career with 14 points. Garland took the floor for the first time in two weeks since he suffered a laceration on the inside of his eyelid during Cleveland’s season opener in Toronto. “You could tell he was excited, just running around the gym, kinda just happy, a little bit of a different step to him. “I mean, he was ready to go,” Bickerstaff said. He was finally making his return to the court.

Darius Garland shows out in return for Cavs in win over Celtics on ... (King James Gospel)

The Cavaliers have gotten dynamite play from Donovan Mitchell, who has been phenomenal following his offseason trade acquisition, and guys such as Jarrett Allen ...

But, on the plus side, even though Garland uncharacteristically missed a free throw near the end of regulation, which could’ve potentially prevented overtime, he didn’t look deterred in his time out there and it’s not as if the production wasn’t there. Garland even stated how, initially, he thought following the eye injury, that he’d need surgery and expected to be out for “a couple months,” via Spencer Davies of BasketballNews.com. Generally, though, it was nice to see how he could propel the team with his skill set in some sequences, and his playmaking abilities were on display in this one as well. Circling back to the case with Garland, however, while it’s going to still take some time for him and Mitchell to mesh, their connections at times in mid-clock situations can help open up quality offense. In that one, Garland didn’t have a quality game going yet, as he was way off in that first half then, before the injury was sustained prior to halftime in that loss to Toronto. Sure, it’s going to take some time for him to establish more meaningful chemistry with Mitchell, and others playing off that duo will have to adjust again from here in time.