For the last three seasons, the Cleveland Cavaliers have been on top of the regular season, earning the first seed lately with a 64-18 win-loss record, but often falling short in the postseason.
Although sweeping the Miami Heat in the first round, they lost to the Indiana Pacers in the semifinals with only one win.
Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland said confidently that they would have won it all if he had stayed healthy, as he suffered a turf-toe injury that led him to have surgery in the offseason.
“I think we would’ve won it, I say that pretty confidently,” Garland said on SiriusXM NBA radio. “The talent with this group is just out the roof. The will that we have on both sides of the ball — we got the Defensive Player of the Year, I’ll say the second best defensive big [in Jarrett Allen] since we’ve got the Defensive Player of the Year already. With Evan [Mobley] and [Jarrett Allen] down there blocking shots and protecting the paint, I think that really helps us on that side of the ball. Evan growing, Donovan being Donovan of course, [De’Andre Hunter] was coming along, Max Strus was coming along, I felt I was pretty good in the first round. So yeah, I say that confidently that we would’ve won.”
He also noted that they had a complete roster and depth in backing up Donovan Mitchell as the team’s leader, including defensive players such as Evan Mobley and Jarrett Allen.
The floor general might be right on his take, but they went through against the championship contender that competes against the defending champion, the Oklahoma City Thunder, in a winner-take-all matchup.
With their matchup with the Pacers, they have not even reached a point of at least tying the series in connection with Garland’s statement of having second options other than Mitchell.
Despite losing in the postseason, Garland is still one of the team’s leaders as he averaged 20.6 points, 6.7 assists, and 2.9 boards with 75 games played to help the Cleveland reach the first seed last season.
