On January 25, Beijing time, the NBA regular season, the Cleveland Cavaliers narrowly defeated the New York Knicks at their home court 95-93, winning two consecutive wins. In this game, the two teams played very glue, the first half of the two teams played 50 draws, and the second half of the two teams played is also difficult to score, the key moment of the last quarter of the two teams to 91 draw, and Garland's key three-point shot to help the Cavaliers to take the lead, the last 1.7 seconds Randle killed three points, the Cavaliers thrilling victory.
In this game, Love and Garland became the key figures for the Cavaliers to win. As a former All-Star, Love has now been reduced to a team bench, and although there have been some conflicts between him and the team before, it seems that it is no longer serious. In this campaign, Luck played 6-of-12 three-pointers off the bench, earning a team-high 20 points, 11 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 steal.
Especially in the third quarter of the game, the fiery Lefour blasted three three-pointers in 55 seconds, scoring 14 points in a single quarter to help the Cavaliers take the lead. So far this season, Luck has averaged 23.4 points per 36 minutes, the third highest performance of his career. Unconsciously, the 34-year-old Love has played for the Cavaliers for 8 seasons, and is currently the oldest player on the Cavaliers.
Young player Garland contributed 13 points, 12 assists and 2 steals in this campaign, and his three-point goal in the key moments of the final quarter also showed that he was a big heart player. It was Garland's fifth consecutive assist double-doubles game, and he also tied James in 2017-18, becoming the cavaliers' record holder for consecutive assists in the past 10 seasons.
With Sexton's season being reimbursed, Garland was given more opportunities, and he was gradually cashing in on his talent. Speaking about Garland in an interview after the game, Luck said: "Since the Cavaliers selected Garland, they have hit it off. And Love is also close to Garland's family. It's a relationship that goes beyond basketball, and it's a lifelong thing. Maybe Garland helped Love overcome depression, and Love taught Garland valuable racing experience, which made both of them better.
In addition to this, another reason for the Cavaliers' success this season is the three-high lineup of Mobley + Allen + Markkanen. Before the season began, the Cavaliers renewed Allen's contract with a high salary, then traded Markkanen and selected Mobley with the third pick in the draft, which also formed the basic framework of the Cavaliers lineup. Aaron and Mobley are equally tall, move at excellent speeds, and neither of them occupies players, and both can eat down the offensive end, while Markkanen can pull the space to make the range of motion more comfortable for the two interiors.
At the same time, the defensive ability of the three is very good, Mobley averages 8 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game, Andron averages 11 rebounds and 1.4 blocks per game, and the two have a large and wide defensive area. At present, the Cavaliers' defensive efficiency ranks third in the league, the limit opponent's penalty area shooting rate is the lowest in the league at 58%, and the baskets they guard have become the league's no-fly zone. The "three-high lineup" coupled with Garland's tandem makes them no longer the fishy team that is bullied in the East, they have achieved a record of 29 wins and 19 losses to firmly rank fifth in the East, and they have only 1.5 wins between them and the First Heat in the East. After several seasons of swinging, the Cavaliers have finally ushered in their own post-James era.