Cavaliers Darius Garland Ruled Out vs. Raptors With Eye Injury
October 20, 2022
Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Darius Garland was ruled out for the remainder of Wednesday's season opener against the Toronto Raptors with an eye injury after he was hit by Gary Trent Jr. in the second quarter.
Head coach J.B. Bickerstaff provided more details after the game:
Kelsey Russo @kelseyyrusso<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> J.B. Bickerstaff said Darius Garland has a laceration on the inside of his eyelid. "So obviously uncomfortable spot. His head and everything was clear, but he was cut and bleeding pretty bad from the inside of his eyelid."
This comes after he played a career-best 68 games last season as Cleveland experienced a resurgence to reach the play-in tournament after missing the playoffs the previous three years.
The Vanderbilt product made his first career All-Star Game and averaged 21.7 points, 8.6 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 46.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from deep.
His ability to hit from three-point range, drive the lane and facilitate for others helps Cleveland compete on a nightly basis, and it is difficult to envision it challenging the best teams in the Eastern Conference without him on the floor.
The Cavaliers will rely on Donovan Mitchell and Caris LeVert to handle the ball in the backcourt while Garland is out.
