Cavaliers star guard had mouth 'wired shut' for weeks following injury

One day after Garland fractured his jaw in the third quarter of the contest vs. Boston, it was reported that he had re-entered the game and ended up playing for the majority of the second half with the injury.

The 2019 fifth overall pick's ailment came at a time when Cleveland was already dealing with loads of other injuries to key players.

As mentioned by Charania, star power forward Evan Mobley returned to the court for the Cavs' win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday but had missed the previous 22 games due to a knee injury.

Cleveland was just 13-12, had lost three in a row and was in ninth place in the Eastern Conference when Garland's 19-game absence began.

Behind star shooting guard Donovan Mitchell and the leadership of head coach J.B. Bickerstaff, the team has gone 15-4 since then, are now 28-16 overall in fifth place in the standings and are threatening to move up further.

In addition to the Garland and Mobley injuries, the Cavaliers also officially lost Ricky Rubio to retirement (which was expected) and saw big man Tristan Thompson earn a 25-game suspension for violating the league's anti-drug program.

Garland is second on the team in both points and assists per game -- trailing Mitchell in both categories -- at 20.7 points and 5.9 assists per contest, respectively. The Vanderbilt product is also shooting a career-best 47.0% from the field and is averaging a career-high 1.6 steals.