The Cleveland Cavaliers struggled during a four-game stretch without Darius Garland.
Now that Garland is back after missing time with a hamstring strain, the Cavaliers are hoping to find some more consistency.
The Cavs will begin a four-game road trip when they take on the host Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday.
Without Garland, Cleveland went 1-3. With him, the Cavs are 2-1 so far this season, including Sunday’s 115-104 win over Golden State.
With Garland in the lineup, the Cavaliers’ offense doesn’t have to fall on Mitchell’s shoulders as much.
Garland had a season-high 24 points and seven assists in the victory against Golden State, and he helped Cleveland hold the Warriors to 36.2 percent shooting.
One of the losses without Garland came on Oct. 27, a 108-105 setback at home against the Thunder. Mitchell scored 43 points in that game, but no other Cleveland player had more than 17.
Wednesday’s game is the last of a season-long six-game homestand for the Thunder, who are 2-3 so far during the stretch.
Oklahoma City is coming off a 126-117 win over Atlanta on Monday that snapped a two-game losing streak.
While much of the focus when it comes to the Thunder newcomers has been on rookie big man Chet Holmgren — and rightfully so — rookie guard Cason Wallace has helped Oklahoma City’s defense as of late.
In Monday’s win, he had a season-high four steals.
In the first meeting with the Cavs, Luguentz Dort had 25 points on 9-of-13 shooting.
Dort made 9 of 21 shots from the floor and 5 of 15 from beyond the arc over the next three games but has come on strong again over the last two, going 15-for-22 from the floor and 8-for-11 on 3-pointers.
While both teams have struggled on the glass early this season, the Thunder’s struggles have been more pronounced. Oklahoma City is next-to-last in the league in offensive rebounding percentage at 23.1 percent and both teams are near the bottom in overall rebounding percentage at 47.5 percent.
