Cavaliers All-Star exits overtime loss to Miami after re-injuring toe

The Cleveland Cavaliers may be without their All-Star caliber point guard once again.

Since the end of last season, Darius Garland has been dealing with a toe injury. He missed part of the postseason, then required surgery in the offseason to fix it. He made his season debut just a few days ago, and played in his third game of the season Monday against the Miami Heat.

During the third quarter, Darius Garland went down with an apparent foot injury. While it wasn’t clear if he reactivated the same injury, he would soon exit the game and not return.

"Yeah, I haven't gotten an update yet," Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson told reporters after the game. "Obviously couldn't continue, took a fall there and tried to come back. So we'll get an update here soon.

The Cavaliers would take the game to overtime soon after, but lost on a game-winning alley-oop scored by Andrew Wiggins with .4 seconds left on the clock. The Heat won 140-138.

Garland finished the day with 11 points on just 2/9 shooting. He got to the free throw line, where he was 6/6. He also grabbed five boards, had two assists and two steals.

In Garland’s season debut with the 76ers, he scored eight points and had four assists on 26 minutes as the Cavs won 132-121. Then in a blowout 148-115 win over the Washington Wizards, Garland dropped20 with nine assists.

If Garland misses more time with the injury, this will be a huge loss for the Cavaliers once again. It was clear Garland was changing the play of his teammates, even when he wasn’t playing well.

The team had more life and energy with Garland out there, and the offense was really finding its stride for the season. Players were able to get back in their natural spots, and fans finally got a glimpse of what this team should look like. Plus, having another high-end ball handler and shot creator is never a bad thing for anyone.

Now the Cavs will have to go back to their original plan of the season, running Donovan Mitchell as a point guard, with either Sam Merrill or Jaylon Tyson as the starting shooting guard.

Lonzo Ball would receive reps as the backup point guard when available, and Craig Porter Jr. would be the backup when Ball can’t play.

Nothing is set on how serious the new injury is, and hopefully that means Garland won’t have to miss too much time for it. The Cavaliers are going to need his handles and playmaking if they want to be real threats in the East this year.