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Monty Williams Assesses Pistons' Struggles vs. Cavs' Darius Garland

Monty Williams offered his thoughts on the Pistons' struggles against Darius Garland.
Justin Grasso|
Monty Williams Assesses Pistons' Struggles vs. Cavs' Darius Garland
Monty Williams Assesses Pistons' Struggles vs. Cavs' Darius Garland

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Detroit PistonsCleveland Cavaliers

A strong second-quarter performance by Darius Garland helped the Cleveland Cavaliers put the Detroit Pistons in an uncomfortable situation during the first half of Friday’s game.

In under nine minutes of action, an initially scoreless Garland launched seven shots from beyond the arc. All but one of his attempts were successful. 

Heading into halftime, Garland produced 18 points in the second quarter alone by going nearly perfect from deep.

Garland’s strong contributions resulted in a comfortable 63-48 lead at the half. 

“We were just too far back in our coverage,” Pistons head coach Monty Williams said after the game regarding their struggles against Garland. “Once we got up and got the ball out of his hands, and we switched a few times and that wasn’t bad, but some of his shots he took six or seven feet behind the line.”

Garland cooled off in the second half, scoring just 11 points in 18 minutes while shooting 2-5 from deep. The Pistons might’ve been happier with their adjustments later in the game against Garland, but it was certainly too late to make a difference.

“You got to make the adjustment and get up,” Williams added. “We just didn’t do it well. That’s it. Once we made the adjustment and got up, he got off the ball and we caused some disruption in their offense but we just didn’t have great awareness tonight. Then there were times where we got the ball out of his hands and just lost him and they threw it back to him and he’s hitting threes in the corner. Just didn’t have great awareness of his hot hand in the first half.”

Garland finished Friday night’s game with a game-high 29 points. He knocked down eight of his 12 shots from three and generated four assists on the offensive end. The Cavaliers took care of business with a ten-point victory over Detroit.

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Justin Grasso
JUSTIN GRASSO

Justin Grasso was a credentialed writer and publisher covering the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated’s 76ers On SI Network. Grasso got his start in sports media in 2016 with FantasyPros, working the news desk, providing game-by-game player analysis and updates on the Portland Trail Blazers and the Golden State Warriors. By 2017, he joined FanSided’s Philadelphia Eagles site as a staff writer. After spending one season covering the Eagles as a staff writer, Grasso was promoted to become the site’s Co-Editor. For the next two NFL seasons, he covered the Eagles closely before broadening his NFL coverage. For a brief stint, Grasso covered the NFL on a national basis after joining Heavy.com as an NFL news desk writer. In 2019, Grasso joined the 76ers' beat on a part-time basis, stepping into a role with South Jersey’s 97.3 ESPN. Ahead of the 2019-2020 NBA season, he concluded a three-year stint covering the Eagles and joined the Sixers beat full-time. Grasso has covered the 76ers exclusively since then for Sports Illustrated. He is a member of the Pro Basketball Writers Association. Twitter: @JGrasso_ Instagram: @JGrassoMedia

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