Darius Garland reveals frustration about the toe injury: “Many of them would not have been out there.”

The Cleveland Cavaliers Guard Darius Garland did not look like his normal himself when he tried to return to the Indiana Pacers in game 3 of the second round. The speed and postponement that made it possible for him to be an all-star this season was not there. His swour toe is responsible for this.

“Many they wouldn't have been out there,” said Garland during the team's exit interview on Wednesday and he is right.

It is incredibly difficult to carry out fast stop-and-start movements with an injured toe. He tried to use a steel plate and toe spacers in his shoe to support the pain and mobility, but it can only lead that far.

Garland was still helpful for his team. They needed all ball handler and goal options that they could find with the print with which the defenders of Indiana played. His presence in game 3 was an urgently needed shot in the arm, which enabled them to play this game.

“It means a lot,” said Donovan Mitchell about Garland after game 3. [I have] A lot of respect for him. “

Unfortunately, the Cavs needed more than just his presence to overcome the Pacers.

As Mitchell played, Garland was not close to his normal self when he returned. He was the first to admit it.

“I was definitely not myself out there,” said Garland. “It was pretty uncomfortable. But as I said, tried to do everything to win the game.”

Garland achieved an average of 14 points .342/.167/.929 shooting splits with four templates and two rebounds per game in the three playoff games against Indiana. These are not the numbers we got used to this season.

Although he was able to return, it was frustrating not to be able to suspend its normal standard.

“It makes it more difficult for me,” said Garland. “I'm there for the boys, but I'm not there for the boys. I'm not 100%, that makes it pretty difficult.”

There was a lot of talk about whether Garland was hard enough at the beginning of the series to play through the injury. This skepticism now appears unfounded, but it is something that Garland had to deal with.

“Everyone will have an opinion,” said Garland. “I know what I did physically. So, as I said in Indiana, much of you doesn't know what I did physically.”

At least he could help his team and be on the pitch when their season was at stake. This is all that you can ask appropriately in view of the situation.

“I'm just glad that I got out of there because I didn't want to leave her out,” said Garland. “I want us to be fully healthy, of course, but we all had our boys out there. Even if we weren't all 100%, we were all out there.”