The Cavaliers’ two-time All-Star guard left his team’s game in Miami during the third quarter on Monday night with a toe injury on his left foot. It was not immediately clear if it was an aggravation of the same injury that forced him to have surgery in June.
“I haven’t gotten an update yet,” Cavaliers coach Kenny Atkinson said after Cleveland’s 140-138 overtime loss. “Obviously, he couldn’t continue. Took a fall there and tried to come back. We’ll get an update here soon.”
Garland talked with the team about the toe at halftime and decided to try to keep playing. He played 6:03 of the third quarter, then left and didn’t return.
Garland began dealing with the toe injury in March, sat out four playoff games and was ineffective when he did come back for Cleveland’s final three games of its second-round loss to Indiana.
He missed Cleveland’s first seven games this season while ramping up toward a return, then averaged 14 points in his first two appearances against Philadelphia and Washington. He had 11 points on 2-for-9 shooting in 19 minutes against the Heat on Monday.
“At the end of the day, hey, there’s going to be setbacks. There’s going to be things that happen, right?” Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell said after the game. “It’s not about him not working. … He’s been in the gym. He’s been working on himself. Hey, this is this is all part of the progress. And progress isn’t linear, right? You’re going to have to be able to have moments like this.”
