Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell lead the Cavs to a comeback victory over the Timberwolves

The Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t had a lot of adversity this season, but they’ve responded well to the little bit they’ve had. They entered Saturday’s game coming off their worst loss of the season to the Oklahoma City Thunder and were without Evan Mobley and Isaac Okoro.

The Cavs responded well to the challenge led by Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell as they skated to a 124-117 win over Minnesota Timberwolves.

The guards took turns carrying the Cavs all night. Mitchell set the tone early after struggling mightily in his last outing against OKC. He made sure that wouldn’t happen again as he put up 10 points in the first quarter and 12 in the second.

Garland picked things up in the second half. The Cavs came out of halftime tied, and Garland made sure it wouldn’t stay that way for long. He scored 10 points in the third quarter to help create separation. Garland then closed out the game in the fourth by adding nine more.

Garland’s control of every possession continues to be impressive. The game slows down for him in a way it hasn’t before. It is seen in how he is able to consistently – and seemingly easily – manipulate defenses to create angles for himself and his teammates. His lethal outside shot, on display again as he went 5-10 from beyond the arc, makes him nearly unguardable.

Nights like this where both guards were able to have this kind of offensive impact were few and far between in years past. It seemed as if one was going off, the other was going to recede into the background. It hasn’t happened this season and it didn’t happen tonight. Both players were able to still play to their full potential in a way that allowed the offense to be at its best.

Garland finished with 29 points on 8-19 shooting with 6 assists. Mitchell delivered 26 points on 12-27 shooting with 7 helpers.

The Cavs also benefited from strong performances from Jarrett Allen (14 points on 6-9 shooting), Georges Niang (15 points and 10 rebounds) and Ty Jerome (15 points and 4 assists).

Minnesota was led by Anthony Edwards, 28 points on 9-22 shooting, and Julius Randle, 20 points on 7-12 shooting and 14 boards.

The final score ended up being closer than the game actually was. The Cavs pushed the lead to 20 in the fourth quarter and ran down the stretch to grab the seven-point victory. The Timberwolves were never able to get under the seven-point threshold in the fourth quarter.

This wasn’t necessarily a statement win, but it was one you can feel good about. Embarrassed on national television in a showcase game, the Cavaliers responded with an all-around performance on the road against a talented team. It was exactly what you wanted to see.