Cavaliers guard Darius Garland injured his right thumb during Thursday’s loss in Indiana and there’s concern that he could miss some time, according to Chris Fedor of Cleveland.com.
Garland sustained the injury when his right hand got hit by Pacers forward Oshae Brissett, who was attempting to knock the ball loose. Flexing his right thumb in clear discomfort, Garland stayed in the game for a couple more possessions before exiting to be evaluated by Cleveland’s training staff. The 22-year-old checked back in about three minutes later, but didn’t attempt another shot the rest of the night and missed a pair of free throws in the game’s final minute, Fedor writes.
“It was bothering me a lot,” Garland said after the game. “I was just trying to go out there and compete as much as I could. The last two free throws, I looked at (head coach) J.B. (Bickerstaff) and I was like, ‘Ah, I really don’t want to shoot these.’ But I got fouled and just tried to make two. They didn’t go in. Everything hurt. I was playing with a wrapped thumb. I couldn’t really do anything. I wasn’t going to be effective with that. It was already throbbing and swollen at that point.”
Garland will be examined further on Friday before the Cavs announce an official diagnosis and provide an update on his availability for Saturday’s game in Chicago. According to Fedor, the point guard said he hopes to “fight through it” and be ready to face the Bulls.
Still, even if Garland has avoided a serious injury, he couldn’t hide his frustration about the amount of contact he has taken this season, which began when he suffered an eyelid laceration due to a reach-in attempt on opening night.
“Just getting hacked all season,” Garland said. “Nothing has changed. The physicality isn’t a factor at all. It’s the whistle not being blown at the right time when it’s a foul, an obvious foul. Some of this stuff we should be reviewing.
“… The whole thing about the league taking care of the players, it seems like we’re not doing that as much this year. At least, the way we did in previous years.”
It’s weird the way the officiating has been thus far. Fouls called for minimal contact and then silence for players being absolutely crushed. I’d disagree with Garland in that as far as I can tell, it’s guards who get the most calls.
I agree it’s like they want examples to point to and say, look we let them play on a bit and this happened. Refs just need to be consistent with whatever they call otherwise players will be out of sync and game flow sucks.
A good part of it is Garland’s style of play. I’m pretty sure no one has intended to hit him in the face. They’re just desperately trying to keep up with the shifty-ness.