Cleveland Cavaliers head Coach Atkinson finds a silver lining in Darius Garland's latest toe injury, as his team continues to navigate unfortunate injury luck
Kenny Atkinson has had his hands full this season, juggling a series of seemingly never-ending bad injury luck. So even though Darius Garland is suddenly battling another foot injury that is expected to keep him out at least the next 7-10 days, Atkinson very candidly expressed a positive perspective on the situation.
"I feel like we dodged a bullet right, like that's how I look at it" Atkinson said before his Cavaliers tipped a Martin Luther King Jr. Day, matinee matchup with the Oklahoma City Thunder. "Not ideal obviously but could be a lot worse."
The team announced over the weekend that Garland had suffered a grade 1, right great toe strain during the first of two matchups with the Philadelphia 76ers last week. The 7-10 day timeline is just for him to be reevaluated for a potential return. It doesn't guarantee he'll be back when the clock expires on that window.
Still, Atkinson's rosier disposition on the matter is warranted, considering the severity of Garland's previous toe injury. The 25-year-old, notably, started the season sidelined due to a turf toe injury on his left great toe, which required surgery this past offseason.
After eventually making his season debut in early November and playing in a few games, Garland seemed to reaggravate the ailment and had to miss several more contests nursing it again.
He's been firmly back in the starting lineup on most nights since November 21. Now he'll be reduced to a spectator again, at least for the foreseeable future.
"He's getting treatment, like intense treatment, in the water," Atkinson said of Garland's activity level. "I'll let you know when he starts getting on the court. Not there, obviously. Kind of just happened. That'll probably be the next step."
It comes at an extremely unfortunate time for Garland, who seemed to finally be rounding into form in recent weeks. Over his last eight games, Garland was averaging 20 points per game, on 54% shooting, and nearly seven assists a night. Over the last five games he was shooting a much improved 40% from three, as well, including going 8-of-16 in his final two appearances.
Fortunately for Atkinson, he's no stranger to making adjustments while Garland is on the mend.
"We'll shift, we'll have necessary ball handling to help Donovan [Mitchell]," he said. "Kind of what we've been doing all year, playing a lot of the young guys. [Tyrese Proctor] will get another shot. We just gotta do it by committee."