5 Observations from practice, including an update on Garland’s availability

The Cavaliers are preparing for Indiana’s pace ahead of Game 1 on Sunday.

INDEPENDENCE — Darius Garland didn’t practice with the rest of the Cleveland Cavaliers on Saturday. This was by design after he went through a full-contact practice on Friday in preparation for Game 1 against the Indiana Pacers on Sunday.

Head coach Kenny Atkinson said that Garland is still “day-to-day.” Whether or not he’s able to go will be determined by how things look on Sunday. For now, he’s been alternating between soaking his foot in the “ice” and “warm” buckets in an effort to get his left great toe sprain ready to go.

This toe injury has kept Garland out of the last two games in their first-round series with the Miami Heat and two games at the end of the regular season.

Kenny Atkinson isn’t settled on a starting replacement for Garland if he can’t go

Sam Merrill seems most likely to start, given that he stepped in for Garland against Miami. But Atkinson wasn’t willing to fully commit to that being the plan again if Garland is unavailable. He acknowledged that they have multiple options and that it will come down to the matchup.

One of the players who could be considered for a starting spot is Isaac Okoro. His minutes were cut during the second half of the first round series, but this matchup should favor him. He’s someone who can be a good defender on Tyrese Haliburton while being able to stay involved in the offense due to Indiana’s drop coverage.

These are just some of the factors that would go into determining Garland’s replacement.

“The plan to start this is [that] he’s in the rotation,” Atkinson said of Okoro. “We’re going to need him on Haliburton. Ice’s ability to get us extra possessions [is important].”

But for him to do that, he’ll need to be willing to let it fly from three. Cleveland can’t afford for Okoro to be hesitant on that end.

“When Ice, the same thing with all of our role players, when they hit one or two threes, it changes the story,” Atkinson said. “That’s always been my message all year. We need you guys to keep firing up open ones.”

The Cavs respect Tyrese Haliburton

Haliburton was recently named the most overrated player in the league by The Athletic’s anonymous player poll. Cleveland isn’t treating him like he’s overrated based on how they’re preparing.

“I didn’t partake in that poll,” Cavs guard Ty Jerome said. “But no, I think he’s a winner. I think he’s led that team to the four seed, conference finals last year. Obviously, they have a lot of good pieces around him, but I think he’s a really good point guard.”

Ty Jerome’s plan of attack will be the same as the regular season

Jerome shredded the Pacers' defense in the midrange and from beyond the arc in their April 11 meeting. He finished with 24 points and six assists in just under 26 minutes of action.

The pull-up three-point shot was a weapon in that game. Five of his six three-point attempts were either pull-up threes or from coming off of on-ball screens.

Jerome seems to know that this is how he’ll have to attack Indiana’s defense again in the postseason.

He was one of the last Cavaliers getting on-court work done after practice officially ended on Saturday. He was working with assistant coach Mike Gerrity on his pull-up three-point shooting by simulating coming off of high pick and rolls.

“We’ll see how they guard this time, but kind of our offensive strategy, it won’t change much,” Jerome said. “I don’t think how we found offense is no secret.”

One of the ways they found offense is by attacking in the midrange with the floater. The guards have done that consistently against Indiana in their regular-season matchups. That appears to be the same plan in the postseason.

Jerome was asked how to attack Pacers center Myles Turner. He smiled and said, “I float over him.”

The Cavs are preparing for Indiana’s pace

Matching Indiana’s pace will be a challenge. It’s one that the Cavs have been preparing for this week. This includes doing defensive drills where an offensive player already starts down the court to simulate how quickly Indiana plays.

The Cavs, however, aren’t going to change how they play based on what Indiana likes to do.

“We can’t change who we are,” Atkinson said. “All of a sudden we’re [not] going to become a slow-up team. ... We still have to keep our identity. We’re not telling our guys, ‘Hey, we got to make this a 94 possession game.’ That’s not it. ... Defensively, we just have to be really locked in.”

“We got to play our style of basketball,” Cavs swingman Max Strus echoed. “Do what we do best.”

Cleveland has been winning with depth all season, and that won’t change

Right now, the Cavs aren’t too worried about whether or not Garland can go. They know they have the depth to withstand his injury if needed.

“Darius is our leader,” Jerome said. “He’s an All-Star. Our depth is important if he plays. Our depth is important if he doesn’t play. Obviously, we hope he’s available, and if he’s not, we’ll be ready.”

The most successful playoff teams this season have been the ones that can comfortably play eight or more guys. That trend seems like it will continue.

Indiana is one of the teams that can go deep into their rotation, as evidenced by how they were able to outlast the top-heavy Milwaukee Bucks in the first round.

“They have depth too,” Atkinson said. “They can match our depth a little bit. That’s an interesting kind of take on this series because they’re so high-paced, they have to play more guys. They can’t play seven guys. You can’t play like that. So they trust their depth. We trust our depth. It’s going to be who can do it for longer.”

Game 1 tips off at 6 PM on Sunday in Cleveland.