'It's on me to help him': Cavs focused on jump starting Darius Garland against Celtics

BOSTON — Darius Garland is the Cavaliers' sports car that keeps misfiring as they try to start the ignition. Their search, now, is for changes they can make that might act as a spark plug to get the engine running again.

Whatever that answer might be, the Cavs know they need to get Garland going on the offensive end.

It probably needs to happen before the Cavs leave Boston and return to Cleveland, where they'll host Games 3 and 4. It absolutely has to happen before the end of this series, in which the Cavs find themselves searching for answers after a 120-95 loss to the Celtics in Tuesday night's Game 1.

Perhaps the No. 1 priority for the Cavs is to scour the film in an effort to find answers on how to stop the Celtics' league-best 3-point attack.

But on the other end of the floor, finding a way to elevate Garland out of first gear is atop their to-do list when it comes to their offensive struggles.

The Cavs have topped 100 points in these playoffs just two times, and that isn't going to cut it at against the top-seeded Celtics. Donovan Mitchell has put together a few Herculean efforts to get the Cavs this far, but his backcourt mate has struggled to find his rhythm.

The Cavs need Garland to find his shot — now. And the team is trying to grease those wheels, in part by altering some of the things they're having Garland do when the ball isn't in his hands.

"I gotta help him. It's on me to help him," said Cavaliers coach J.B. Bickerstaff. "There are more things we can get him off the ball, but also with our ball movement, I think everybody will find more open shots, and [it's] just trying to create things for him that he doesn't have to work so hard for."

Garland has received much of the brunt of the Cavs' two playoff defensive matchups. The Orlando Magic were one of the better teams in the league at taking away space on the perimeter with their defense around the 3-point line. The Celtics might allow for a little more operating space, but Derrick White and Jrue Holiday are a nightmare defensive tandem.

The Cavs hope to be able to put Garland in little more suitable situations in an effort to open up his game.

"I think now when he's bringing the ball up the floor versus pressure, and back-to-back series versus very good defensive-minded guards, it wears on him," Bickerstaff said. "So it's on me to help him, and we'll do that."

Darius Garland stats in playoffs not where the Cavaliers hoped they'd be heading into Game 2 against the Boston Celtics

The first halves have been the issue. In Game 7 of the Cavs' first-round series against the Magic, Garland started 1-of-9 shooting from the floor as Orlando built an 18-point lead that nearly ended Cleveland's postseason.

In Game 1 against the Celtics, Garland started 1 of 7. After his sixth miss, he held the follow-through a second longer than normal and seemed to take a deep breath in frustration.

In eight playoff games this season, Garland has been held to 15 or fewer points in all but two games. At times, he's been electric — including a key stretch in Game 7 against the Magic — but his effectiveness has been spotty.

When Mitchell and Garland have both been scoring, the Cavs have looked like a difficult team to beat. They just haven't seen that pair at the top of their game at the same time as much as they'd like, or probably as much as they need to take down the 64-win Celtics.

Mitchell has been in Garland's ear the entire postseason, urging him to keep shooting — no matter what. Or, as Mitchell said it, "Shoot, shoot, shoot. I don't give a damn."

After Garland buried a second-chance 3 against the Magic, Mitchell gave him a bear hug. And he's still urging Garland to be as aggressive as ever as the Cavs prepare for Game 2 against the Celtics.

"Continue to attack, find ways to get in the paint and create," Mitchell said. "This series is different. You have to think a little more, they have a bunch of different things they can throw at you, different scenarios. So it's like, how do you adjust?

"It sucks that we lost [Game 1], but you have something on film that you could look at and dissect. But I'm always going to tell him to be aggressive."

Ryan Lewis can be reached at rlewis1@gannett.com. Follow him on Threads at @ByRyanLewis.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Cleveland Cavs need Darius Garland to step up in series vs Celtics