Cavaliers: Darius Garland's absence causes major problems against Pacers

CLEVELAND — Those who think the Cavs are better without Darius Garland got a rude awakening Sunday night. Cleveland was without the services of its All-Star point guard for the third straight playoff game, and this time the step up in competition made it pay as Indiana stole Game 1 of the best-of-seven playoff series with a 121-112 win at Rocket Arena. The Cavs will try to rebound from their first loss this postseason when they host Game 2 on Tuesday at 7 p.m. "When you're dealing with health, it is what it is," Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. "He wasn't ready. Again, it's a day-to-day thing. We'll check him (today). I know he's desperate to play. We need his speed and his shot making. He's an All-Star, so we'll check him (today) and see how he is. I'm not sure what the official medical thing is, but it's a tough one. Especially, like I said pregame, with the stopping and starting. "He's hurting, we just have to see if we can figure it out and get him going. We don't want him out there 60 percent, 50 percent, not with the way (the Pacers) pressure the ball. That doesn't make sense." Garland is dealing with a left toe sprain he suffered during a Game 2 win against the Miami Heat on April 23. He missed the final two games of the series with Cleveland winning both of them by 37 and 55 points, respectively. The Cavs had six days off as a result of sweeping the Heat. The lopsided victories prompted Miami forward Kyle Anderson to speculate that Cleveland was better with Garland out of the lineup. "If you want my honest answer, and I don't mean to throw shots at anybody or even entertain what was going on between them, but I think they looked like a better team without Garland on the floor," Anderson said after Miami's 138-83 Game 4 loss Monday. The Pacers disproved that theory resoundingly as they took advantage of the Cavs' star point guard's absence by pushing the pace and getting great looks from 3-point range, shooting 19-of-36. Meanwhile, the Cavs shot 9-of-38 from beyond the arc. And all those missed shots contributed to Indiana getting up and down the court. "I thought they did a good job with their physicality," Atkinson said of Indiana's defense. "Their defensive intensity was excellent. It's crazy, I actually think it was more our offense. Sometimes your offense affects your defense. I don't feel like we moved it. We tried to keep Ty (Jerome) out there just to relieve the pressure, but our offense wasn't great tonight." Garland likely would have helped Cleveland's woeful 3-point accuracy as he shot 40.1 percent in the regular season and 41.2 in his two postseason games against Miami. His ballhandling ability definitely would have given the Cavs another option to combat Indiana's pressure. Sam Merrill started in place of Garland for the third time, but reserve point guard Jerome again saw more minutes off the bench. Jerome scored 21 points and dished out eight assists playing 29:27 while Merrill scored just six with four assists in 17:50. Merrill was one of three Cavs players who made multiple 3-pointers while Jerome shot just 1-of-4. Cleveland's other All-Star guard, Donovan Mitchell, led the way with 33 points on 13-of-30 shooting, but went 1-of-11 from 3-point range. "We're missing an All-Star," Jerome said. "But we've got to do it collectively. Everybody has to step up and do a little more. It's not an excuse." Contact Chris Sweeney at (440) 329-7135 or ctsports@chroniclet.com. Follow him @CSweeney1686 on X.