Only 11 points were scored in the life-and-death battle, and their condition was fluctuating all year round. So what about the All-Star guard? It’s time for you to be traded!

Although this season's regular season scored the second best record of 64 wins and 18 losses, it was regarded by many media as one of the biggest favorites to win the championship. In the first round of the playoffs, it staged an extremely terrifying dominance, defeating its opponent with a relaxed and freehand sweep. But in the second round, facing the Pacers, whose strength was not as good as theirs, the Cavaliers lost again and again, and were eventually swept by the opponent with a total score of 4:1. Obviously, this is a situation that most fans and media have never imagined before the series began. Now that you have lost the ball, you should look for problems. After all, if you don’t find the problem, you will still fall apart in the future.

As the core of the team, Donovan Mitchell has tried everything. In this round of the series, except for the fourth game due to injury, he had to leave the game for treatment. In the other four games, he played 2 30+ and 2 40+ games respectively. There is no doubt that he is the one who should not be responsible for losing. Another core, Evan Mobley, except for the fourth game, only scored 10 points and 5 rebounds in the entire series, the rest of the games were considered to be the performance of the DPOY winner, so his performance is also worthy of recognition. Now it seems that the biggest problem lies with Darius Garland. This two-time All-Star guard seems to have to pay for this defeat!

1. If you lack physical talent, you are prone to targeting the playoffs.

First of all, Garland has one of the most obvious shortcomings, that is, his physical talent is indeed too poor. Since he was selected by the Cavaliers in 2019 and entered the NBA, many fans have been worried about his physical fitness. In fact, it is indeed the case. It is only 1.85 meters tall and still weighs only 86 kilograms. Such data is difficult to associate with strength. Moreover, after so many years, he has never been able to become stronger, which has led to him being able to use rhythm, speed and skills to complete the offensive end in the regular season. However, once the playoffs are in the playoffs, his movements will be very likely to be deformed as soon as his opponent reaches the intensity, and it is difficult to complete an effective end. Don’t look at his average of 18 points, 2.2 rebounds and 5.2 assists per game this year, it seems reasonable, and it has not declined much, but if you look closely at his performance in the game, you will find that he is really struggling and struggling.

And looking at some advanced data, his shooting and three-point shooting percentages were only 42% and 28.6%, which was a significant decline compared to the regular season. What's even more terrifying is that his shooting percentage is only 38% when he has a confrontation, while the regular season number is 52%, and the assist-and-turnover ratio has also been reduced to 1.7. It can be said that as long as the defensive pressure faces increases, Garland's condition will decline sharply. You should know that as the team's core point guard and the team's offensive driver, he cannot operate, which will lead to a major collapse in the team's overall offense. What is more embarrassing is that in the four games that Garland missed, although the Cavaliers' record was only 2 wins and 2 losses, the overall offensive fluency and efficiency were significantly higher. It's no wonder in the series against the Heat, in an interview after a game, the Heat's Li Kaile said that when Garland was absent, the Cavaliers were even more terrifying.

2. Defense is a disaster and psychological pressure is difficult to overcome.

When Garland entered the NBA, many scouts were optimistic about him, especially praised his offense, thinking that he would be the next Stephen Curry. Although it was a bit exaggerated to say that, Garland has also been selected as the All-Star twice in the past six years. In terms of his own development, it is indeed good. However, this year's playoff defeat also exposed a big problem, that is, Garland's defense has become a breakthrough for the Cavaliers. As we mentioned above, Garland's body has a considerable disadvantage, which not only makes it difficult for him to ensure offensive efficiency in confrontation, but also becomes a loophole in defense. After all, he is only 1.85 meters tall, even when facing an opponent in the No. 1 position, he is easily targeted singles by taller opponents. In this round of the series, Coach Carlisle also grasped this point and constantly arranged for the Pacers players to take turns to play Garland in dislocation singles, gaining unexpected results. Garland's defensive efficiency in the playoffs this year is only 125.9, ranking outside the 100th place in the league. Moreover, this is the data he played when the team helped him make up for defense as much as possible, which shows that there are indeed big problems in his defense.

Finally, there is another thing that must be mentioned, that is, as one of the cores of the team today, Garland must improve his psychology. After all, when he reaches a higher stage, it is difficult to help the team overcome difficulties without a big heart. In such a critical game, he only made 4 of 16 shots, scored only 11 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, but had as many as 5 turnovers, which was difficult for him to connect him with the star guard. And don't forget that not only this season, Garland's overall performance in the first round of the Cavaliers' first round series against the Magic last year was very unsatisfactory, and he averaged only 14.9 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1 steal per game. If Mitchell hadn't saved the team many times, they might have been eliminated in the first round. Therefore, Garland must learn from Mitchell, after all, his partner is only 1.85 meters tall, but he can gallop in the playoffs. If Garland cannot continue to improve himself, he will definitely be traded by the Cavaliers in the future, and even this summer, he will have the possibility of leaving Cleveland.