The 2025-26 season has gotten off to a bit of an up-and-down start for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Max Strus is yet to play, while both Jarrett Allen and Donovan Mitchell have already missed some time. The good news is that it’s finally Darius Garland return day.
Cleveland fans can finally take a beat and be happy. Wednesday night against the Philadelphia 76ers, Garland will finally take the floor. The 2X All-Star guard’s production should give a huge boost to the lineup right from the get-go.
The team has showed off its depth amidst his absence, and it should help unlock them even further now.
Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell Pairing
In the absence of Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell has gone out and put up some incredible numbers to open up the year. Averaging nearly 30 points and five assists per night, he has knocked down an impressive 55% of his shots from the floor. Mitchell has also sunk over 43% of his triples, proving his dominance yet again.
Oh, and by the way, the Louisville product has done this while putting up his lowest usage rate since his rookie season.
The fact that two ball-dominant guards both made the All-Star game as teammates a year ago, is very telling of how effective the Kenny Atkinson system is. The team is getting back a guy who averaged 20+ points for the third time in four years last season, while being an elite facilitator.
The Return of #10 should help to open up the floor even further for this team. This will allow them to still produce at a high level while Mitchell is off the floor. That was something that had been an issue in the early part of this year. Also enabled now, is Lonzo Ball to be off-ball with Garland in a big back-court set now, too.
The way that Atkinson has been able to stagger the minutes of his star guards has been critical in allowing each guy to get have stretches to get theirs. They will generally start and finish the game together, but each gets stretches to lead the offense. It has generally been DG with Jarrett Allen, and Donovan Mitchell with Evan Mobley.
Cleveland had the number one scoring offense last year. They rank #23 in points per game this time around. The Garland return should do wonders for that.
Cleveland Cavaliers Performances Sans Darius Garland
The 4-3 start to the season for the Cleveland Cavaliers had its ups and downs. They saw Jarrett Allen with a few lackluster performances. The team struggled to grab defensive rebounds and defend the three-point line.
But on the positive side, Sam Merrill hit 15 threes in the first three games of the season. Jaylon Tyson has had numerous big nights. And there have been ample minutes for Lonzo Ball and Larry Nance Jr. to get comfortable with their new team.
And now, the top five guys can play together. Allen is averaging just seven rebounds per game, and it didn’t help that he broke a finger against the Toronto Raptors.
In his return, Allen figures to receive more lobs with the Darius Garland return now happening. Evan Mobley is shooting a career-low 44.8% from the field, but is averaging a career-high with 4.4 assists.
Mentioned above was the dominance of Donovan Mitchell, while both Tyson and Merrill played very well during their spot starts. Though De’Andre Hunter has averaged 18.4 ppg, he too is shooting a career-low from the floor.
But now, with the core four playing together, everybody should receive something of a boost. They have proven that they have the depth. Time to show it off.
Cleveland Cavaliers Closing Notes
The big thing for the team now is putting it all together. Garland will be throwing the lobs to Allen and Mobley. Both he and Mitchell getting in to break down the defense and find open shooters.
This is a team that opened 15-0 last year, so as they go through the next week or two, there will be plenty of eyes on them.
It’s great to see that DG is healthy once more. The showtime Cavs are finally back.
The action tips off between the Philadelphia and Cleveland around 7:00 PM ET.
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