If the Minnesota Timberwolves had lost on Sunday, they probably packed up for the season and went home. Already clinging to life amid a listless start to the year, Wolves led the Cavaliers, playing without Donovan Mitchell and Jarrett Allen, with more than 24 and less than 10 minutes to play. Got a profit of 22 points with
Then came Darius Garland, who scored 29 of a career-high 51 points in the final nine minutes and made a change in the fourth quarter. Garland was out of his mind, pulling the Cavs back to within two with 32 seconds to play with this sprint-and-stop 3-pointer.
But that was as close as Cleveland would get. Minnesota escaped, 129-124. Garland, who dropped 10 of 15 3-pointers, was the only player this season to hit the 50-point mark for nearly an hour, until Joel Embiid scored an even more 59-point, 11-rebound. , eight-assisted, seven did not post. Pause the performance in a victory over Jazz.
Garland joins LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Walt Wesley as the fourth player in Cavs franchise history to top the 50-point mark.
With his last line of 51 points, six assists and 10 making 3, Garland is now on a list that includes just six names in history.
Very good company for Garland, who was a debut All-Star last season and has one of the toughest pick-and-roll covers in the league. If you go to the screen, it has a great floater going down. If you go to the bottom of the screen, you’re playing with fire because of his ability to dribble 3 runs. The Cavs, now 8-5, have fallen two straight after falling to the Warriors in the final game of their West-Coast road trip on Friday.
Published at www.cbssports.com
