Darius Garland struggled mightily early in the Cleveland Cavaliers' 106-94 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 7 on Sunday.
Garland had two points on 1-of-9 shooting, two turnovers and four fouls through the third quarter. The Cavaliers held an eight-point lead against the Magic entering the fourth quarter, but their second-leading scorer needed to step up to send Orlando home and advance to the playoffs.
Television cameras captured veteran guard Donovan Mitchell chatting with Garland on the bench during the game. What is his message? continue.
“He continued to believe in me,” Garland said after the game. “…It's great that he was in my ear telling me to keep moving forward, to have confidence in myself, and that the team and the entire organization believed in me. That was good because I really needed it.”
Garland delivered when it mattered most. The Magic were trailing by eight points with six minutes left in the game. Garland missed a 3-point shot, but after an offensive rebound, Mitchell forced the ball to Garland again. This time he connected, pushing Cleveland back into double digits.
Mitchell went up to Garland and gave him a big hug.
“When he hit that 3-RBI, seeing that reaction, I knew he was back,” Mitchell said. “Sometimes that's what you need. A second chance. … That's huge. He deserves it.”
Garland scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Cavaliers defeat Orlando.
Cleveland will advance to the Eastern Conference semifinals and will face the Boston Celtics, who finished the regular season with the best record in the NBA (64 wins, 18 losses). Game 1 between the Cavaliers and Celtics is scheduled for Tuesday at 7pm ET at TD Garden.
