Darius Garland | Cavs vs Magic, Game 5 Post Game | 4.30.2024

Darius Garland | Cavs vs Magic, Game 5 Post Game | 4.30.2024

and Donovan said that he’s been encouraging you to shoot how important was it for you to come out as aggressively as you did um I mean that’s that’s been me uh I always wanted to come about be aggressive um but I was I had a shot first mentality Theon night so um that was my whole thing going into into the game tonight was just uh go be aggressive for myself first and then just look out for sprays to open teammates but they just kept leaving me open so a couple fell and the start the rim just started looking big for me a little bit Jo when did you know that Marcus was going to get a chance um when I got here for the game what did you if you thought about this at all what did you think you would get out of him I knew he was going to get some toughness for sure he always brings that toughness um a couple buckets couple mid-ranges that’s that’s what he’s known for uh he made a big Trey Ball for us in the corner that was really huge and um but yeah I already know he was going to bring his toughness in the mid-range but I didn’t know that the three ball was going to come out tonight so uh it was good that he had in his back pocket though it’s been you know blowout win after blowout win on both sides what what does it do just for a playoff mentality moving forward in this series or Beyond to have a crd it out have to execute down this down the stretch kind of win um it was good for us cuz we really needed it uh we needed to close game like this in the playoffs uh just to go through the execution that we’ve been going through and um just seeing where where everybody’s going to be at so um I’m glad it wasn’t a blowout like the last B but uh I think it was just good for both teams just to see the execution that we was going to go through and uh see the guys house going to be out there actually because I think game six is going to be another close one TJ just speaking about Marcus and what kind of mentorship has he brought I know you and Tristan were close as well did he kind of talked to you before the playoffs or anything like that to kind of get in your head and trying to help you out uh yeah he just told me to be aggressive like everybody else told me um I know that’s probably like a repetitive thing to say but everybody’s keep telling me that so um yeah just told me to go out there just be me uh told me he always tells me be special so uh that’s always been my thing uh that’s always been his thing for me so um yeah just go out there and be aggressive go play my game obviously you guys winning got him for this playoff experience and what he’s been able to bring in his entire career what was it like to just watch him step up into the moment after not playing in the first four games we was L just talking about that in the locker room um I mean it was huge for us uh we really need his toughness since J was out uh we need somebody to just put bodies on bodies um but I mean he came in with with the greedy mentality that we really needed um and some big shots so um hopefully get some more burn and see where it goes but I mean he played a huge factor for us tonight Darius one of the say that goes around Sports pressure is a privilege it means you’re playing in a big game right a lot of big name stars in this league are done their season’s over you guys are still playing with a chance to advance tonight’s game the pressure involved with this and you guys finally overcoming that and winning what what can that do moving forward uh it just brings more confidence for us and our team uh we know what to do in those moments we’ve been in a lot of clutch moments before and um I think our guys are built for these moments um we have couple veterans that’s been there that won before so uh I mean they just really showing us the way and uh they really just in our ear a lot about the moment and about the pressure that you’re talking about but uh I mean I think we’re built forward we’ve been in this situation before last year it didn’t go how we wanted to go but this year we try to just make a change and do something better the third quarter tonight what was different than the last two where you guys just got annihilated in Orlando in the third quarter uh they went on a 0 run I think that really just stunned us but I think we stayed as a team tonight I don’t think we did that in Orlando uh just to restand their run um and we just started getting quality shots we start picking up our Pace a little bit more to get out in transition get some easy ones and um and that was it really y Darius what’s the mentality for you personally hitting in tando same thing shot first mentality if they come help hit the open teammate um and we got to hit first especially there uh I mean they have that crowd and they play a huge part in that win down there both of the WIS down there so got to hit first and just try to restain their runs they always going to have a run it’s a game of runs so um if we call it time I would just have to regroup and come together as a team and just try to overcome it and you’re big component being aggressive but Max foul and he comes right back in gets that seal passes it to Marcus three and then he gets it again Donan Sten down the basket how big is it to have a guy like that who is just playing fearlessly even in tight situations when he could foul out that’s Max man Max is uh Max just is a gritty guy um he’s built for these moments uh Max you can tell like he just loves playoff basketball uh and he’s been there before and that’s one of the guys that I’m always leaning on because he’s been there he’s done this before so uh we already know what we’re going to get out of match we get that toughness that grit and he’s always going to make the right play and he made some really huge on for us tonight Darius um you mentioned down in Orlando maybe not sticking together as a team um through some of those runs that they went on as now that you’ve experiened that down there for those two games you can reflect on a little bit just what’s the approach or is there a different approach you guys are taking as you now kind of PIV it back to their place for for game six yeah just rest standing runs um like I said before it’s basketball is a game of runs so everybody’s going to have a run we’re going to have a run they’re going to have a run it’s just after that time out what do you do how do you respond out of so that’s what it is I mean they going to have that crowd they’re going to be buzzing like they did in the first two games and we just have to just punch back and then just with tonight’s the way tonight ended with Evans block does it feel almost fitting in a way that in a series that’s been you know hard to come by points wise whether it was when they were here and then when you guys were down there um that it ends on sort of this big defensive play for you guys yeah I mean our we’re just built on defense so whenever we need a stop I think that we’re always going to get a stop when we need it uh our guards are always locked in on a defensive end we had the defense mentality so um we knew that we was going to get a stop regardless um especially with Evan and J down there that’s going to be really tough for them to get to the rim but Evan made a really huge block tonight and uh we really needed it for this win

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland spoke with the media following a 104-103 win against the Orlando Magic on April 30, 2024 at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.