The Cleveland Cavaliers had a wonderful run throughout the season, only to get swept by the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Finals. And two guys, Darius Garland and Lonzo Ball, who used to run the backcourt, watched it happen from the outside.
With enough time to dissect Cleveland’s run, Garland and Ball united to break down exactly what went wrong.
Darius Garland, Lonzo Ball Don’t Hold Back On Cavaliers’ Collapse
Garland and Ball were both shipped out of Cleveland in February. The duo came together on Ball’s ‘Ball In the Family’ podcast, pointing out that what they’d seen barely resembled the team they’d left behind.
Garland didn’t even try to soften the blow. “It was lowkey tough to watch,” he said, admitting he only caught pieces of the series. The version of Cleveland he saw in the playoffs looked nothing like the one he’d been a part of in the fall.
“It was kind of tough. Especially seeing how we were playing early on in the year, right? See, it’s such a total, literally a 180, right? Like something totally different on the court, but it is what it is.”
He was agreeing with Ball, who’d set the table with a sharper claim. Cleveland, in Ball’s view, took the wrong route to a title. “I don’t think that was a path that you should have taken, personally. You ask me, I think we would have went farther. But that’s just me,” he said, betting on the backcourt he and Garland once formed. “I’m always going to bet on myself.”
Ball’s opinion didn’t stop at the final result. He neatly picked apart the rotation, pointing to the players the Cavs traded for and then barely used. “I’m like, ‘Y’all traded people that you’re not even using.’ And then you push Tyson to the bench when he was killing all year. Qwan didn’t see the light of day. He’s the energy guy.”
For Ball, it traced back to one thing. “To me, it’s gonna be hard to win when you don’t have an identity,” he added, arguing the Cavs lost in the playoffs whatever had carried them through the regular season.
Why the James Harden Trade Still Stings
Cleveland sent Garland to the Los Angeles Clippers for James Harden, then flipped Ball to the Utah Jazz a day later in February. Harden was the centerpiece of this return, brought in to steady the Cavs’ offense.
But despite their best effort, the Cavs couldn’t make it out of the Eastern Conference Final. Throughout the four-game sweep, Harden averaged 16 points and 3 assists and had 4.3 turnovers per game while struggling heavily with his shooting efficiency. He shot a lackluster 38.9% from the field and only 17.9% from three-point land.
Garland, meanwhile, found a different gear in Los Angeles. He averaged 19.9 points and 6.4 assists on 47.1% shooting and 43.8% from deep. He even logged a massive 41-point, 11-assist game against the Dallas Mavericks in March. He’s made it clear that LA agrees with him.
“I got my joy back,” he said, describing a Clippers system that lets him run the show.
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In Cleveland this season, he put up 18.0 points and 6.9 assists before the deal, but reports of friction with Donovan Mitchell shadowed the backcourt, and Garland’s own words hinted he’d grown tired of playing second fiddle.
Ball’s own Cleveland stint told a rougher story. Across 35 games, he averaged 4.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per night while shooting 30.1% from the field and 27.2% from three-point range. He was traded to the Jazz in a three-team deal, who then waived him, making him a free agent.
