Cavs guard Darius Garland has been the most clutch player in the NBA

In the past, we’ve witnessed Darius Garland struggling to close out many games for Cleveland in the past. However, this hasn’t been the case at all this 2024-25 campaign, as he’s been one of the biggest keys to the Cavaliers’ unbeaten run this season, alongside his co-star Donovan Mitchell. 

His own head coach Kenny Atkinson was one of the first to praise him this year. “It doesn’t surprise me because of the talent and the smarts and what a great passer he is and good decision maker,” he said after watching his pupil close out the match against Brooklyn this past weekend. “He’s got the shot. He’s got everything.”

In fact, the 24-year-old has been the most clutch player in the NBA this campaign so far, as he’s had everything down the stretch. The league defines clutch as a situation where the point differential between the teams in play is at five points with under five minutes left on the clock.

STILL UNDEFEATED.

Darius Garland ices a 12-0 @cavs start! 🧊 pic.twitter.com/X2LADKfaNW

— NBA (@NBA) November 12, 2024

This is precisely the moments when Garland has found himself at his best version, and always in position to lead the Cavs to the win, as he’s done already four times this season for a total of 18 minutes. During this lapse, he’s dropped 24 points on 9-12 shooting from the field, alongside going 3-5 from beyond the arc.

His 24 clutch points translate as the seventh most in the current NBA, while being the only athlete within the top 10 that has played less than 20 clutch minutes in total.

This weekend against the Nets, for example, he boasted easy midrange jumpers in transition, then a simple dump-off to teammate Evan Mobley, and even faked a step-back three before dropping in a floater. That Saturday evening, the point guard hit a total of 20 points, with 8-of-11 from the field, plus 6 assists in 32 minutes of play.

“I just took my time,” Garland explained his efficiency during clutch moments this season, just as he had closed out the game against Brooklyn minutes before. “[I] got the right matchup that I wanted, and was just aggressive from there, just trying to make the right read.”

With Garland at the helm, the Cavaliers have become the best clutch-time offense in the league with a 122 offensive rating

Despite being the most clutch player in the league, Darius hasn’t done this all by himself. Cleveland as a team has been the NBA’s best clutch-time offense with a 122 offensive rating. His coach believes Garland has set the example for his teammates.

“He’s a complete point guard,” Atkinson shared this weekend. “Maybe last year there were some end-of-game [situations that] didn’t always go great. But from my point of view, just coaching him for the first time, I’m just blown away by his control of end-of-game situations.”

You could say that injuries have been the main reason why he hasn’t played at this level in the past, but the truth is that the 24-year-old has never recorded an effective field goal percentage over 50% in the clutch before. Even though it still is too early to say if he will sustain this intensity, but his teammates sure thinks he will.

“He’s gonna keep playing like this,” Donovan Mitchell said after the win against the Nets. “This is who he is. And for me, it’s just amazing to see. . . . It’s only 11 games, but still, you can see it. There’s just a decisiveness about it you’ve seen from him. He’s done it all year.”