Cavaliers’ Darius Garland misses 3rd straight game as Cleveland faces Indiana in Game 1 of series

CLEVELAND AP Cavaliers guard Darius Garland missed his third straight battle as Cleveland hosted Indiana in the opener of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday night The -foot- sixth-year pro is dealing with a sprained left big toe He missed the final two games of the Cavaliers first-round sweep of the Miami Heat after being out for the final two games of the regular season with the same injury Garland averaged points and assists during the regular season He scored points in the Cavaliers - win over the Heat on April in the opening encounter of the series before aggravating the injury late in the second championship on April Sam Merrill was starting in Garland s place Garland did not practice Saturday after going through a full-contact session Friday Toes are tough coach Kenny Atkinson reported before Sunday s encounter That s a tough one but it s really how he feels and he is a stop-start guy He s a violent cutter violent change-direction guy So it s just going to be day to day how does it feel AP NBA https apnews com hub nba Source