Is Darius Garland Playing Tonight? (Injury Update, Betting Impact for Cavs vs. Hornets)

Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland has dealt with foot/toe issues all season long, and he's set to miss Wednesday's matchup with the Charlotte Hornets.

Garland has a Grade 1 toe sprain and is set to miss at least a week with the injury before he is re-evaluated. Cavs head coach Kenny Atkinson recently said that the team' "dodged a bullet" in regards to Garland's injury.

#Cavs Kenny Atkinson on Darius Garland's diagnosis of a Grade 1 toe sprain and his expected 7-10 day recovery time before reevaluation:

"I feel like we dodged a bullet...not ideal obviously, but it could be a lot worse." pic.twitter.com/eu0hsTZK0N
— Camryn Justice (@camijustice) January 19, 2026

Atkinson isn't kidding, as Garland had a toe issue that sidelined him in the playoffs last season. The star guard then had offseason surgery and ended up missing the first seven games of the 2025-26 season.

Overall, Garland has appeared in 26 games for the Cavs this season, leading the team to a 13-13 record in this matchups. He's averaging 18.0 points, 2.4 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game while shooting 45.1 percent from the field and 36.0 percent from 3.

Garland's injury comes at a really unfortunate time, as he had been playing better in the month of January, averaging 20.6 points and 7.0 assists per game while shooting 54.1 percent from the field.

Even with Garland out, the Cavs are road favorites on Wednesday night against a Charlotte team that is 1-1 against them this season.

Here's a look at my favorite prop bet for Cleveland in this game with Garland once again set to sit.

Best Cavs Prop Bet vs. Hornets

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Donovan Mitchell OVER 5.5 Assists (-150)

Cavs star Donovan Mitchell should take on an expanded role as a playmaker on Wednesday with Garland out of the lineup, and he enters this game averaging 5.7 assists per game for Cleveland.

Shockingly, Mitchell is averaging slightly fewer assists per game (5.6) in the 16 games that Garland has missed, but I think he's a solid bet to go OVER this prop against Charlotte.

The Hornets rank just 24th in the NBA in opponent assists per game, and Mitchell has five and seven dimes in his two meetings with them. On top of that, the Cavs guard has thrived as a passer this month, averaging 6.3 assists per game while posting four games with eight or more dimes.

He's averaging 11.6 potential assists per game for the season, so the floor is certainly there for Mitchell when it comes to this prop.

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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