Darius Garland appears to be summoning The Ghosts of Cavaliers Past as the team attempts to make an improbable playoff comeback.
Garland and the Cleveland Cavaliers were trampled in Game 4 of their second-round playoff series against the Indiana Pacers at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Ind. The Cavaliers lost 129-109 during a game in which they were down by as many as 44 at one point. It was a historically bad performance by Cleveland, who now trail 3-1 in the best-of-seven series.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Garland expressed confidence that the Cavaliers would be able to come back to win the series.
“This franchise has been down 3-1 before,” said Garland. “This group can do it. We’ve got the talent. We’ve got the skillset. The camaraderie is always there. Just gotta just play with our physicality that we play with and play our brand of basketball.”
There is nothing wrong with Garland being confident about his team’s chances. But the problem was his reference to the Cavaliers’ 3-1 comeback against the Golden State Warriors in the 2016 NBA Finals. That team was led by LeBron James and also had the likes of Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love providing support.
Users online roasted Garland over his reference to the immensely different 2016 Cleveland team.
Garland and the Cavaliers won 64 games during the regular season (including 16 in a row at one point), so there is always a chance that they could win three in a row against the No. 4 seed Pacers. But considering that Cleveland lost both games at home (including blowing a 20-point lead in Game 2) and also just got shellacked by the Pacers in Game 4, they are facing a real uphill climb mentally to make this a competitive series again.
Additionally, there is the issue of guard Donovan Mitchell, Garland’s co-star on the Cavs. Mitchell hurt his ankle in non-contact warmups before the second half (video here) and is a question mark for Game 5 of the series Tuesday.
