Tristan Thompson called out other star guards while campaigning for Darius Garland to make All-Star team

With the Cleveland Cavaliers on pace to win 70 games, it shouldn’t come as a major shock that there are several players on the team who are worthy of All-Star consideration, and one of them is point guard Darius Garland.

Garland has been an invaluable component of a Cleveland offense that ranks second in the NBA in points per game this season. He’s leading the way for the Cavs from a playmaking standpoint with a team-high 6.8 assists per game, and he’s their second-leading scorer behind only Donovan Mitchell.

Recently, Cavaliers big man Tristan Thompson simultaneously called out other star players at Garland’s position around the NBA and campaigned for the 24-year-old to earn the second All-Star nod of his pro career later this year.

“It would be far more of a shocker if Garland, his teammates and Cleveland’s coaches were saying something different, making a case that a Cavalier shouldn’t be an All-Star,” Joe Vardon wrote. “After a recent home win, the longest-tenured veteran in Cleveland’s dressing room, Tristan Thompson, was shouting out all the top-tier guards Garland had bested in head-to-head matchups.

“To paraphrase, Thompson said (basically): ‘You had Jamal Murray — (beat him). Golden State? (beat Steph Curry). They had [LaMelo] Ball, (beat him).'”

Because the Cavaliers were in complete control against the Phoenix Suns well before the final buzzer sounded when the two teams faced off Monday, Garland didn’t even log 25 minutes of playing time. Yet, he certainly made the most of his minutes, as he totaled 16 points, seven assists and three steals.

Monday was far from the only time this season that Garland hasn’t received a huge amount of minutes. Part of what makes his sixth NBA season so impressive to this point is that he’s making such an impact on the offensive end all while averaging a career-low 30.1 minutes per contest.

All of the Cavaliers’ success this season has seemingly helped to keep Garland’s legs fresh. The team has won so many games, and a lot of those wins have come by big margins, which has meant that the Cavaliers haven’t had to rely on him or their other starters too heavily to close out games.

Garland will try to lead the Cavaliers to yet another resounding victory and extend their current winning streak to three games when the team takes on the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center on Wednesday night. The Rockets are on the heels of a loss to the Detroit Pistons on Monday, but they still own the second-best record in the Western Conference at 28-14 and have won seven of their last 10 games.