It wasn’t the start to the year Garland had hoped for, suffering a lacerated eyelid against the Toronto Raptors on opening night. After missing a series of games, he is now back and fully healthy, looking to regain his all star form from last year. Always among the league leaders in assists, Garlands scoring is often overlooked and under appreciated. Last season he averaged 21.7 points a game, shooting a respectable 38.3% from distance. With their new addition, Donovan Mitchell, now occupying the opposing teams best defender as well as also being able to facilitate, this has freed up Garland on the offensive end even more. Although only a small sample size, this is precisely what the Cavs management had in mind when they made arguable the biggest offseason splash in the NBA. In his three games back playing alongside Mitchell, Garland has averaged 9.67 three point attempts a game, missing the o2.5 just once (2-9 shooting).
Enter the 3-6 Sacramento Kings. They allow the 4th best three point percentage to opposing teams (38.1%). In addition, the Kings give up an average of 3.26 threes to the point guard position, boding well for the over. Most recently, they were torched by the likes of Stephen Curry (7), Kelly Oubre Jr. (4) and Tyler Herro (5). In what could be a high scoring up and down track meet tonight, I look for Garland to continue his high volume shooting, and for him to attack the weak perimeter three point defense of the Kings.
