MIAMI (AP) 鈥� Darius Garland wasn't out there to, as he put it, 鈥減ick on鈥� Tyler Herro on Saturday. And as it turns out, that really was just a part of the Cleveland game plan anyway.
No, on Saturday, the Cavs picked on everyone in a Miami uniform.
Garland, an All-Star guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers, was ruled out for Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Saturday against the Miami Heat because of a sprained left big toe.
Sam Merrill 鈥� who replaced Garland in the starting lineup 鈥� finished with zero points. Donovan Mitchell scored only 13, well below his norm. The Cavaliers simply rolled anyway, to move one game away from Round 2.
鈥淭hat's who we've been all year,鈥� Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said. 鈥淲e're deep and we're skilled.鈥�
Missing the game was the latest event in a newsy few days for Garland, who created a stir 鈥� and raised Miami鈥檚 ire a bit 鈥� by saying after Game 2 that Cleveland鈥檚 offensive game plan was to 鈥減ick on Tyler Herro.鈥�
Herro, Miami鈥檚 All-Star guard, wasn鈥檛 amused and responded Friday. 鈥淭o go to the media to talk about the game plan and this and that says a lot about him,鈥� Herro said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not worried about Darius Garland. Somebody that doesn鈥檛 play defense shouldn鈥檛 be talking, either.鈥�
But the Cavs kept going at Herro on Saturday, swarming Miami鈥檚 first offensive option and holding him to 13 points on 5 of 13 shooting. Bam Adebayo scored 22 for Miami; he had to shoot 9 for 20 to get there.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 a sign of great respect," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Cleveland keying on Herro and Adebayo. "Tyler鈥檚 earned that. He鈥檚 absolutely earned that kind of respect. It鈥檚 a man-to-man, but it鈥檚 a box-in-one man-to-man. They鈥檙e denying him all over the place because they know how dangerous he can be. And the same thing with Bam. Bam creates so many triggers and opportunities for us, especially when he catches it in the paint. They鈥檙e swarming.鈥�
Garland aggravated his injury late in of the series on Wednesday, the Cavs winning that to go up 2-0 in the matchup. That meant there was no on-court Herro vs. Garland showdown Saturday.
鈥淭yler鈥檚 a great player. He鈥檚 an All-Star. Great competitor, great competitor on both ends, much like Darius,鈥� Atkinson said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 like the playground, right? You go out there ... sometimes there鈥檚 some verbal stuff. I think it鈥檚 overblown. And once that ball is thrown up, none of that stuff matters.鈥�
Garland averaged 24 points (second on the team behind Mitchell) and a team-best seven assists per game in the first two games of the series.
For the season, Garland averaged 20.6 points and 6.7 assists for Cleveland. The Cavs are 62-15 when Garland plays this season, including playoffs, and 5-3 when he does not.
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AP NBA:
Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
