Are the Cleveland Cavaliers Taking the RIGHT VIEW of the BIG PICTURE!? | Darius Garland UPDATE!

Are the Cleveland Cavaliers Taking the RIGHT VIEW of the BIG PICTURE!? | Darius Garland UPDATE!

On today’s show, the Cavs have a lengthy injury report for tonight’s game against Miami Heat. Darius Garland, of course, is on it. Should we be reading in to his injury designation? Is no news good news as far as Garland goes? We’ll talk about that. Plus, the Cavs shot selection. They’re leading the NBA in three-point attempts. It’s one of the highest rates ever in league history. Is that a good thing? We’ll dive into it on today’s edition of Locked on Cavs. You are Locked on Cavs, your daily Cleveland Cavaliers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Hi again everybody, my name is Danny Cunningham and you’re listening to Locked on Cavs, part of the Locked On Network, now the number one sports podcast network in America. And thank you for making this show your first listen today and every day. You can find us anywhere you get your podcast. That’s Apple, that’s Spotify, that’s anywhere else. Make sure to subscribe to the show, give us a fivestar rating, and leave us a nice review as well. If you’re watching on YouTube, hit that thumbs up button for me as we get started. Click subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss latest lockdown on Cavs content. And of course, today’s show brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new FanDuel customers can bet just $5. If your first $5 bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use all across the app. Head to FanDuel.com to get started today. The Cleveland Cavaliers take on the Miami Heat tonight. in Miami. It is the second game of their baseball style series down here in Miami. Of course, they lost on Monday night 140 to 138 in overtime. We’ll probably dive into the end of that game a little bit near the end of today’s show, but the injury report for Wednesday’s game came out Tuesday evening and it was a long one for the Cavs. Of course, Darius Garland, who left Monday night’s game with a reagravation. I think it’s fair to call of his left toe injury that he had to have surgery on in June. He is out for this game. I think that the way he’s designated is interesting though because it is injury management. And I think that is an important term because when Garland was coming back, it was not that. when Garland missed, if you think back to Saturday where he played on Friday against the Washington Wizards and set out set out the second night of that back-to-back at home against the Chicago Bulls. He was also listed the same exact way that he is listed for tonight’s game. Now, does this mean that, you know, there’s no issue and that everything that Garland went through on Wednesday was just a flare up and there’s no concern? I don’t know. But I do think it’s are we in the point where no news and I’m recording this. It’s 10 o’clock on Tuesday night. We’ve not gotten any sort of status update from the Cavs. I’ve not heard anything that is overly concerning as far as Garland goes. But I also don’t know if he’s gone through all the testing that he needs to go through. I don’t know the entirety of that situation. I don’t think anybody outside the organization right now does. But I like to maybe think that no news more than 24 hours after this injury could be good news. Now that doesn’t necessarily mean that it is. And we will wait and find out and I think we’ll learn a little bit more maybe at shootaround definitely before the game on Wednesday because Kenny Atinson I can assure you will be asked about Garland’s injury before the Cavs take on the Miami Heat on Wednesday night. But I do think that had it been something really bad we probably would have heard a little bit more. Whether it be something official, whether it be reporting from some of the major news breakers in the NBA, I think we probably would have heard a little bit something more by late Tuesday night. Again, doesn’t mean they’re out of the woods by any stretch of the imagination, but I don’t know that this is going to be a long-term thing. The Cavs may have dodged a bullet here. We’ll have to wait and find out. But I think it is a good sign, if nothing else, that on the injury report, instead of it being a left great toe sprain or a new injury for Darius Garland, that it’s injury management. That doesn’t mean it can’t change. But I think the fact that one day after the injur I don’t even know if we should call it the injury was sustained because I do think it was a reagravation if nothing else. But one day after this that it’s an injury management listing as opposed to something else. I do think could be looked at as a good sign. It’s not a finality. We don’t know for sure, but it it’s a better sign than had he been listed with a great toast sprain or something worse than that. So, I do think that is certainly one thing to take away from the injury report for Wednesday’s game. Also on the injury report, Donovan Mitchell, Evan Mobley, they’re both out for rest purposes. Jaylen Tyson also will miss this game because of a concussion. I don’t know when exactly Jaylen suffered the concussion on Monday night, but it did look at one time as if Sam Merrill accidentally kicked him in the back of the head. Jaylen reached for the back of his head. He continued to play. He played the rest of the night without any issues. and obviously had to report symptoms at some point because here we are now where he’s going to miss this game with a concussion. Typically when a guy gets that, I would think going to be out for at least a week. So maybe Jaylen Tyson is out that long. Maybe he’s out longer. We will have to wait and see. That is certainly another guy that we’ll get answers on on Wednesday from Kenny Atinson. And then I wanted to talk about the rest for Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley. And I know that there is anytime you see rest on the injury report, there tends to be an uproar, right? Like, why aren’t you playing? It’s November. How come you already need rest? The Cavs are, and I’ve been saying this since the summer, they are going to take things conservatively this year. They’re not going to push guys. They’re not going to go full throttle in the regular season. That’s why that locker room on Monday night wasn’t all that upset that they lost that basketball game. Like Donovan Mitchell said, “I’m glad this happened now. I’m glad that we not glad that they lost, but glad that they can learn from something now.” This is a group that if you think back to 12 months ago, 12 months ago on November 11th, I believe they were 12 or 13 and 0 at this point. I think they were 12-0 before they went to Boston, lost their first game. And you could make a case that they were playing at that time their best basketball that they never played better basketball than they did at the start of the season. I don’t necessarily buy that. I think that the 16game winning streak certainly featured better basketball at times than the 15game winning streak did. And I think the Cavs did get better. But you could make the case that this start of the season for them was the peak, right? and they are making sure of it one way or another that the beginning of this season is not their peak. They’re not clicking on all cylinders. There are times where they’ve looked very good. There are other times where they’ve looked not quite as good. Monday night I thought for the most part they looked really good offensively. The second quarter they looked terrible. The other three quarters they were awesome. But overall it’s been a bit of a mixed bag. And Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley have played a lot of minutes so far this year. and Donovan has already missed a game with Hamstring. He’s been questionable with Aamstring for a couple of other ones. So, taking care of where he’s at physically is of the utmost importance, especially if Darius Garland is going to miss time. And this is a stretch in the schedule for the Cavs where it is difficult. Tonight’s game is going to be the fourth game in six nights for the Cavs. They’ve played games in DC, Cleveland, and now their second one in Miami. And oh yeah, by the way, they play tomorrow night at home against Toronto. So this is a fivegame and seven nightight stretch. They only have two of them I believe on their entire schedule. This is the first one. The other one’s actually a little bit tougher. They have Oklahoma City mixed in there in that one. But they’re going to I would I would bet that when that second five games in seven days stretch pops up later in the season, I would bet guys are going to miss a game for rest in there, too. I just do not see the purpose right now. If you are the Cavs where you’re taking this big picture approach, which is what they’ve said, it’s what they have said, it’s what their actions have been, it’s why they are experimenting with things, it’s why they’re operating the way they’re operating is because they told us that they’re going to be judged on the postseason. They told us that what matters is postseason success. That doesn’t mean they’re not going to try in the regular season because they have and they’ve tried different things. Some of them have worked very well, some of them have not worked very well. They’ve done that stuff and they’re trying to win a lot of regular season games and they will win a lot of regular season games. This is going to be a team that still finds a way to win 55 or more basketball games because they are that talented. In my opinion, they’re the best team in the Eastern Conference. Um or the most talented team in the Eastern Conference. I don’t know. I would say they’re the best right now, but they’re the most talented at this moment. They’re going to find a way to win a lot of basketball games and I would imagine they’re going to be the number one seed. They’re still the favorites on FanDuel to win the Eastern Conference. They’ve got the third best odds to win the finals only behind Oklahoma City and the Denver Nuggets. So, they’re taking the approach of all of those things by doing this. There is no reason in the regular season for Donovan Mitchell to play five basketball games in seven nights. There’s not. Maybe if you want to have a gripe with Evan Mobley sitting and saying, “Hey, this could be, you know, I understand it’s five games in seven nights, but the opportunity to carry the offense and and do that could be a good thing for Evan and his development.” I can buy that. Um, and I think that that could make sense. Like if you have an issue with the rest thing, don’t have it with Donovan. If you have an issue with Evan getting a rest night because you think it could be something good for his development to play a game without Donovan, without Darius, and hey, go figure this out. It might not always look good, but it’s going to be something that can pay off for him down the line. I can get behind that line of thinking, but I don’t see the reasoning other than that for why those guys need to play five games in seven. I don’t when they play five games in seven nights and like I said I believe there are two stretches on the schedule this year where they have it. It’s this one and it’s one later in the season. I believe it’s in January when Oklahoma City comes to Cleveland. It doesn’t it’s not necessary. What do they have to what are they going to especially in November? What are they going to prove by going out there five times in seven nights? I don’t know that there there’s not much to be gained there. in my opinion from Donov Mitchell’s perspective is nothing to be gained for him individually by going out and playing five times in seven nights. And if he wasn’t going to sit on Wednesday night against Miami, he would sit the second half of this back-to-back at home against the Toronto Raptors on Thursday. So, I don’t think that there should be any issue with those guys having the night off. I think it will be a good opportunity for some of the younger guys. We’re going to see a lot of Craig Pork Jr. I imagine we’ll see a lot of Tyrese Proctor. It’s disappointing Jaylen Tyson is hurt because these are I would like to see where Jaylen Tyson is at in a game right now without those guys considering how good he’s been playing in his role. Like what does it look like for him in a bigger role? I think this is a big opportunity for Jared Allen who we might talk about a little bit later because he only played a minute 44 in the fourth quarter and overtime of Monday night’s game. What’s going on there? I think that is an interesting situation to follow. So this will be a good opportunity for some guys. I do think it would have been a good opportunity for Evan Mobley, but the Cavs have preached for months now. This isn’t a new thing that they are operating this season with the big picture in mind. They’re going to be conservative when it comes to guys coming back from injuries. Like if Darius Garland, if all he did is tweak his toe on Monday night, and again, we don’t have the specifics as of right now, but if that’s all he did, he might miss a week because of it. That I think is taking a conservative approach. They’re going to give guys rest nights because ultimately for them to reach their ultimate goal, winning a game in Miami on November 12th doesn’t get them any closer and losing that game doesn’t push them any further away. And I think that is the thing that organizationally they’re keeping in mind when they’re making these decisions. Now, there has been a shift for the Cavs offensively this year because they were one of the best three-point shooting teams last year and they shot them at a high volume, but they’re shooting them at a higher volume than almost anyone ever. We’ll talk about are they shooting too many threes? We’ll dive into that next right here on Locked on Cavs. But first, today’s show is brought to you by FanDuel. 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The Knicks are plus 370. So there is a sizable gap there. FanDuel certainly still a believer in the Cavs and I think that you should be too despite maybe some early season struggles so far. So, right now, like I said, now is the time to join with FanDuel because FanDuel is giving new customers $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. That’s right, 300 bucks in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So, head to fanduel.com. That is fa due.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Today’s show is also brought to you by Built. Nobody likes paying rent. Nobody likes paying rent. But if you must, you might as well get something for it. That’s where Built comes in. Built is changing the game by turning your rent payment into real rewards that you can actually use. When you pay rent through Built, you earn flexible points that can be redeemed towards hundreds of hotels and airlines, future uh rent payment, your next lift ride, and so much more. But Built isn’t just about rent. It’s about rewarding you around your entire neighborhood. With Built, your rent finally works for you. You’re earn earning points every month on something that you already have to pay. You got to pay rent anyways. You might as well get points for it. Built makes every day of life feel more rewarding. from your neighborhood to your travel plan. So, turn your rent into rewards and start earning points around your neighborhood by going to joinbuilt.com/wlockedonba. That is join nb i lt.comonba. And make sure to use that link so that they know we sent you. Thank you again for making today’s edition of Lockdown Cavs your first listen. Thank you for making Lockdown Cavs your first listen. Every single day, the Cavs are shooting a ton of three-pointers, a ton of three-pointers. They’re shooting more three-pointers than they’ve ever shot before. They’re shooting more three-pointers than anybody else in basketball. And on Monday night, and yes, it was an overtime game, but on Monday night, they shot 65 three-pointers. That is a franchise record. That is a franchise record by five. Not just like, hey, we got one past it, broke it by five. And yes, this was an overtime game. There were five additional minutes. They played 53 minutes instead of 48 minutes. The fact that they still shot way more than one three-pointer per minute is bonkers. But also, the game that the record broke, which previously was 60, was a double overtime game. That game, as you might remember, was the final regular season game last year between the Cavs and the Indiana Pacers, where no one of consequence for the Cavs played in that game and very few people of con consequence for the Pacers played on it in that set. So that’s five more than any other game in NBA history. And if they took eight threes in overtime, so yeah, they only broke the record because they played overtime. Had they not played overtime, they shot 57 threes in regulation. You know what that is? That’s the most threes they’ve ever shot in a regulation basketball game. It tied the record that was set oh just a week ago when they played the Atlanta Hawks at home. So the Cavs are shooting more threes than they’ve ever shot before. And I wonder if this is a good thing. Now I look at where they stand as far as offenses go and they’re now up to eighth as I record this on Tuesday night, which a week and a half ago, no less than a week ago. Last Tuesday, they were 26th in offense before Darius Garland made his season debut. The Cavs were 26th in offense. So over the course of four games, yeah, four games, they’ve climbed from 26 to eighth because they’ve been so good offensively. In those four games, they have the second best offense in the NBA over the last week. They have the second best offense in the NBA. Their offensive rating is 128.5. Now, keep in mind for as much as I think Darius Garland changed the way that this team looked, not only on the floor with what he did, but also in terms of the energy level of this team. Keep in mind that figure is one in a game that Garland didn’t play in Saturday against the Bulls in a half that he didn’t play against Miami. So this is really just two and a half games of Darius Garland have had this impact and against the Bulls the Cavs had a great offensive night and aside from the second quarter the Cavs were fantastic offensively against the Miami Heat on Monday. So offensively they look better but I do wonder if it’s a little bit too volatile because the reason why they lost that game against Miami and we can talk about the end of the game situation. I do have one thing I want to add on that coming up in segment number three. The reason why they lost that game, they didn’t shoot the ball very good. They took, like I said, 57 threes in regulation, which is the most they’ve ever taken in a regulation game. They didn’t make enough of them. That is part of the pro part of the problem, I think, is that their offense right now is a little bit too up and down. It’s a little bit too volatile because they’re relying upon the three-pointer. Now, they’ve got some very good shooters. We all know that. like they have I think one of the best shooting teams in basketball, that’s not necessarily bearing out right now the way that you would expect it to. But for the Cavs to go one of eight in overtime from three-point range, that’s kind of where they lost that game because they missed seven threes in overtime. if they have a possession where they’re getting a better shot because it’s not and to be fair here they still are generating a lot of really good shots but they went 20 of 57 from beyond the arc in regulation. 23-pointers is a lot to make in a game but 20 for 57 is not a good percentage. That’s not a good enough percentage to go win that game. That is the problem because we can look at volume and volume does matter and I know the Celtics built their themselves basically on this premise when they won the championship a few years ago, but I don’t think that’s the right way to go. I think that this Cavs team is too talented to sort of put it in the the hands of whether or not the three-point ball is going to go. And I’m not saying that the Cavs should not be shooting a lot of they should be. They should be among the league’s leaders right now. They’re averaging 47.13 threes per game, which is the most in the NBA. It’s the second highest number for any team ever, only behind that Celtics team that won this title. There are only, I believe, four teams ever that have shot more than 55 threes per game, or excuse me, more than 45 threes per game. It was those two Houston teams with James Harden and Chris Paul, and then the Celtics and now the Cavs. That’s not a long list. This is not something that has proven to work over and over again in NBA history. Right now, through their first 11 games of the season, more than half of the shots that the Cavs have taken have been three-pointers. That to me is a little unhealthy with what this roster looks like because yes, Donovan Mitchell is going to shoot a lot of threes. He’s also somebody that should get to the basket a lot. Evan Mobley should be near the basket more. Jared Allen, who hasn’t been playing a ton, which I find to be very interesting, should be near the basket more. Darius Garland, when he’s healthy, I do think will help to maybe drive this number down a little bit because I think he will get to the basket a little bit more. But I do think that their shot quality is something that is very interesting to look at because right now the Cavs are 21st in restricted area attempts. Given what their roster looks like, that is too low. I’m not saying they need to be first. I’m not saying they need to be first, but I think 21st is far too low given the construction of their team. Last year, they were 12th in restricted area attempts. They took 25.2 restricted area shots per game last year. They’re down to 22.3 so far this year. That might not sound like a big deal, but considering the percentage that teams tend to shoot from that area, that is a big deal. That’s up to six points being left on the floor because you are taking a different shot in favor. Now, the fair part of that is, well, you only need to hit two threes to make up for three makes inside. Like, I understand how math works. I totally get that. And I’m not somebody that’s trying to say, hey, they should limit how many threes they should take. No, they should be around 40ish, 42, but I think averaging 47 is a little high and having multiple games with 57 or more is also probably a little bit much. Now, the one thing that I do find to be good, and I wonder the impact that Garland has had here, because the ball movement to me has felt much better lately, but the Cavs are actually generating more wide openen threes so far this year. They’re not making them at the clip they need to be making them at. I I do think like for wide openen threes, you should be shooting between 42 and 45%. The Cavs are not quite there. I believe they’re right around 40, which is still fine, but given their caliber of shooters, I think they should be a little bit better. They are ninth in the NBA in wide openen three-point frequency. They’re taking 21.6 wide open threes per game. That’s very good. Ninth in the NBA. Last season they were 11th. They were taking 20.4. So that is up. Their open three-point rate, which is a defender between four and six feet away according to the NBA, is also up compared to last season. That is also good. They’re not shooting that well. They’re shooting, I believe, 34% in open threes. If you want to buy into something on the Cavs offensively that’s going to tick up, that’s the thing that like that will just progress to the mean. If anything else, like that is the one thing. Okay, they are generating good shots, but they’re also taking more tightly contested threes last year this year than last year, which I kind of think that if you do some of the math, some of those rim attempts are, yeah, becoming wide openen threes, but some of them are becoming bad shots, too. And I think that is something that’s worth noting. And I think that this is sort of the the last thing that the Cavs need to get back to doing offensively is getting to the rim just a little bit more. I think they’ll be better for it. I think the roster is suited for it. And ultimately, I just think it’s a little bit more of a sustained style because they are relying upon the long ball in my opinion a little bit too much so far this season. Now, I want to talk again briefly about the end of the game on Monday night because the more that I’ve thought about it, I don’t know that the Cavs actually did anything wrong on the floor. That might sound crazy, but I’ll tell you why next. Right here on Locked on Cavs. But first, today’s show is brought to you by Mint Mobile. If you’re still overpaying for wireless, it’s time to start saying yes to saying no. At Mint Mobile, their favorite word is no. No contracts, no monthly bills, no overages, no hidden fees, no BS. You can say yes to making this switch and getting premium wireless for just $15 a month. Mint makes it simple. All plans come with high-speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation’s largest 5G network. You can even bring your own phone and keep your same number and contacts. That is a great touch. That is something you’re definitely going to want to do. You’re getting the same quality service that you had before, but for a fraction of the price. Set up super easy. You’ll keep your number and then you’re up and running in minutes. So, are you ready to say yes to saying no? Make the switch today at mintmobile.com/lockedonba. That is mintmobile. Mint ntm o b i l.com/lockedonba. Upfront payment of $45 required equivalent to $15 a month. Limited time new customer offer for the first three months only. Speeds may slow above 35 gigabytes on unlimited plan. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details. Thank you again for making Lock on Cavs your first watch today. Thank you for giving it a watch every day on YouTube. While you’re here, make sure you hit that thumbs up button for us. It really does help grow the show. Click subscribe and hit that notification bell so you don’t miss the latest locked on Cavs content. And the Cavs lost the game on Monday night for a few reasons. I don’t know that they did anything wrong. And I say that knowing they do they did not execute well enough. It was a mental lapse, but I don’t think they were put in the position to be successful. And what I mean by that is thinking about that situation more. And hindsight is always 2020. There’s always the benefit of knowing how things turn out when I get on this microphone and talk about them. And it it is a little unfair to say, “Hey, you should have reacted differently in this pressure situation.” But I look at the group that was put on the floor. And we will never know if this game would have gone differently had Kenny Atinson not been ejected in the third quarter because of his second technical foul. We’ll never know that. But I do wonder if the lineup at the end of the game is actually the thing that cost them. So the way that I look at this is there were 4/10en of a second remaining after Donovan Mitchell hit that just remarkable three-pointer. 4/10en of a second. So what can you do with 4/10en of a second? Can you catch and shoot? You can. Very difficult, but you can catch and shoot. Can you go to the rim? You can. Believe it or not, that’s what Miami did. I think that the Cavs didn’t prepare well enough for that moment. I don’t think that they understood as well as they needed to where that basketball was going to go and how to prevent it. So on the floor they had Dean Wade, they had DeAndre Hunter, they had Sam Merrill, they had Evan Mobley, and they had Donovan Mitchell. And are all those guys equipped to be in that spot? Sure. Was that the best group that could have been out there? I don’t think so. So look at it this way. What areas of the floor do you have to defend with less than a half second remaining? You have to defend the rim. No if, ands, or buts. Well, that to me says Jared Allen should probably be out there. If Jared Allen is one of the pre-minent rim defenders in basketball, the way the Cavs talk about him, there is zero reason why he should not be on the floor with less than a second left in a tie game in overtime. I don’t care that he hadn’t played in a long time. It had been probably 45 plus minutes since he was last on the floor. Doesn’t matter. Go defend the rim. Evan Mobley was out there. Should have been out there. His assignment probably should have been a little bit different than it was, but he should have been out there. Dean Wade, no issue. DeAndre Hunter, no issue. Those guys should have been out there. But I also look at it and say, okay, Jarrett should have been defending the rim. They had Donovan Mitchell defending the inbound passer, which is fine, but I don’t think that is the best guy for the job. And that’s not a slight Donovan. I think if you listen to this podcast or if you read anything I’ve ever written over at the inside shot, I think you know very well how I feel about Donovan Mitchell as a basketball player. I think he’s one of the best in the game, but I wouldn’t have him in that situation. That was not setting him or the team up to be successful. I know he didn’t play at all. I think it would have made sense to just say, “Hey, Thomas Bryant, go stand in front of the and go stand in front of the passer. You are one of the biggest guys that we got. We don’t want you defending the rim. We want Jared Allen doing that.” The Cavs needed to be as big as possible because they needed to defend the rim. And for as weird as it sounds, they needed to defend the opposite side of the floor. Because if you think about this with where the ball was and given the clock, 4/10en of a second is enough time to catch and shoot. It is by the letter of the NBA law, you can catch and shoot in that amount of time. But what you cannot physically do is catch, turn, and shoot. So that says anybody that is running towards the inbounder is not a threat here. like Evan Mobley was defending Haimeh Hawkins and Himemeh Hakez instantly bolted to the corner that the on the same side of the floor as the inbounder. Evan Mobley ran with him and that is exactly where that play was lost. Now was Haime Hakez a threat to get the ball? Sure. Is Haime Hakez going to catch, turn, shoot, and make that shot all in under 4/10en of a second? No, that’s not a thing that’s going to happen. So you really can eliminate half of the floor because you don’t have to defend anybody that would have to catch, turn, and shoot. So, you have to basically defend flare screens out to the the three-point arc on the opposite side of the floor and the rim. And the Cavs didn’t have the best personnel out there to do it. And that to me is where that game is lost. And it’s a very very difficult position for Johnny Bryant to be in acting as head coach with Kenny Atinson in the locker room watching on the TV. But and like I said, hindsight is 2020, but that is the one thing that I look at and just say, you know what, I think they lost that game, not because of the guys that were on the floor, but because of the guys that weren’t on the floor, maybe should have been. I think that is the thing to look at. So, I do think tonight’s game could be an interesting one. I think that there will be fun things to watch for like what does Tyres Proctor look like? How does Craig Porter Jr. play? Uh does Larry Nance, who is questionable, come back? I think those are kind of the things that you’re looking for. And then the Cavs are right back at it tomorrow at home taking on the Toronto Raptors. I would imagine Donovan Mitchell’s back. I would imagine Evan Moley’s back. Of course, tomorrow we will not only also talk about what happens in the game tonight. Uh we will talk about what we find out about Darius Garland here in Miami. Uh when Kenny Atinson will address it at some point because he will be asked about it prior to the game. So that’s going to do it for today’s edition of Locked on Cavs. Thank you for making it your first listen. For your second listen of the day, go check out Lockdown Guardian. Steven Vote just won manager of the year for the second straight year. I’m sure that Justin and Jeff will have you covered with some really great stuff over there. So, before we get out of here, make sure you do me a favor. Click subscribe if you’re listening to this podcast, wherever you get it. That’s Apple, that’s Spotify, that’s anywhere else. That is the very best way to help grow the show. And make sure you hit that thumbs up button on YouTube. Click subscribe and hit the notification bell. And I will be back first thing tomorrow morning talking more about the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Cleveland Cavaliers face mounting injury woes as Darius Garland, Donovan Mitchell, and Evan Mobley headline a lengthy report before their clash with the Miami Heat. Could strategic rest and injury management set the stage for a resilient playoff push, or will depth concerns derail momentum?
Danny Cunningham breaks down the latest on Garland’s toe, Jaylon Tyson’s concussion, and the controversial rest decisions for Mitchell and Mobley. Key insights include the Cavs’ historic three-point shooting volume, how changes in shot selection might impact their offensive identity, and whether Jared Allen’s reduced fourth-quarter minutes hint at bigger lineup questions. With the team leading the league in three-point attempts but lagging in restricted area shots, could their evolving strategy redefine expectations for the Eastern Conference favorites?
Check out Danny’s Substack, The Inside Shot: https://theinsideshot.substack.com/
Email the show: LOCavsmailbag@gmail.com
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