CLEVELAND (AP) — Cavaliers guard Darius Garland missed his third straight game as Cleveland hosted Indiana in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday night.
The 6-foot-1, sixth-year pro is dealing with a sprained left big toe. He missed the final two games of the Cavaliers’ first-round sweep of the Miami Heat after being out for the final two games of the regular season with the same injury.
Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists during the regular season. He scored 27 points in the Cavaliers’ 121-100 victory over the Heat on April 20 in the opening game of the series before aggravating the injury late in the second game on April 23.
Sam Merrill was starting in Garland’s place. Garland did not practice Saturday after going through a full-contact session Friday.
“Toes are tough,” coach Kenny Atkinson said before Sunday’s game. “That’s a tough one, but it’s really how he feels and he is a stop-start guy. He’s a violent cutter, violent change-direction guy. So it’s just going to be day to day, how does it feel?”
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