The Cleveland Cavaliers won their first 15 games last season.
If the Cavs want to go on a run like that again, they’ll need to do it while shorthanded.
Darius Garland and Max Strus are both out in the early going.
The Cavaliers begin their season Wednesday night against the New York Knicks, a nationally televised game on ESPN that will have a lot of people watching.
The Cavs will try to get things done without Garland for the time being.
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Why isn’t Darius Garland playing tonight?
Darius Garland isn’t playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers to open the season due to injury.
He is recovering from offseason toe surgery.
When Garland underwent surgery in June, it was believed to be a four-to-five month recovery timeline.
Head coach Kenny Atkinson had good things to say in his media availability on Monday.
“Really good,” Atkinson said Monday about how Garland is looking. “He did most of practice today and we were live, so we’ll see how he responds tomorrow. I don’t know what that means big picture-wise, but good sign for us.”
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Without Garland, the Cavs could do a number of different things with their starting lineup.
New guy Lonzo Ball could start in a direct swap. If the Cavs want to let Donovan Mitchell run the point, they could start Sam Merrill or Dean Wade.
Soon, they’ll have their dynamic backcourt duo back together.
