Beijing time on January 16, today, the Thunder at home to meet the Cavaliers, this is a contest between the sixth in the East and the penultimate in the West, obviously, the Cavaliers although they lost Rubio and Sexton, but the strength is stronger than the opponent. Before this game, the Cavaliers had won three consecutive games, the momentum was in full swing, the Home Thunder once stretched the point difference to 18 points, but Garland was like a god helper in this game, and after winning the offensive end in the final quarter, he sent assists to Mobley and Markkanen in succession, and with Alexander's three-point shot, the Cavaliers finally won 107-102.
After this game, the Cavaliers won four straight games, with a record of 26 wins and 8 losses, ranking sixth in the East, and the Thunder's record of 14 wins and 28 losses continued to rank second from the bottom in the West. In this game, Garland is the god of heaven, the whole game down, he played 36 minutes and 37 seconds, 11 of 20, 7 of 3 points, 27 points, 5 rebounds and 18 assists, plus-minus +9 ranked the highest among the two teams of starters, the third in the game, and he only had two mistakes, there is no doubt that Garland is the biggest contributor to the Cavaliers' wins in this game, and the last two assists teammates hit two three-pointers to directly kill the game.
The outstanding performance also allowed him to set two major records, the first record, the 18 assists set a new career record, the previous 14, the second largest record, this is Garland's career first 25+15 data, also set a career record, while Garland's 18 assists also equaled Paul's record of 18 assists this season. In the last six away games, the Cavaliers have achieved a record of 5 wins and 1 loss, equaling the best record set in the 2016 championship season, and the last time the Cavaliers made the playoffs without James was back in the 97-98 season, and now the curse is expected to be broken.
In addition to Garland, Allen performed well in this game, playing 33 minutes, 5 of 9, scoring 13 points and 13 rebounds, and Mobley 8 of 14, with 20 points and 5 rebounds. Markkanen had 12 points, five rebounds and four steals, and Love contributed 13 points and two rebounds on 5-of-11 shooting. For the Thunder, Alexander played crazy, 7 of 19, with 21 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, 1 steal and 2 blocks, Kiddy was 5 of 8 with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Dort had 17 points and 3 rebounds, Favors had 6 points and 8 rebounds, and Beziley had 17 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists.
The Cavaliers have no star players this season, but they can play like this, and obviously they have done a better job than other teams on the road to rebuilding. This season's Cavaliers look as if they've already taken a seat in the playoffs, and in the post-James era, they're already a strong eastern team. For the Cavaliers to achieve such a good result, some fans said that James can return to his hometown again.