Cavaliers notes: Darius Garland found form in Game 5

ORLANDO, Fla. — Point guard Darius Garland showed up in a big way for the Cavaliers in a 104-103 victory over Orlando in Game 5 of their Eastern Conference quarterfinal playoff series Tuesday in Cleveland. Garland scored 23 points — four more than he totaled in Games 3 and 4 on the road — and finished with five assists and five rebounds. Cavs coach J.B. Bickerstaff saw the difference in the way Garland approached Game 5. "(It was) just the way he manipulates the game and understands how he's reading defenses, what they're trying to take away," Bickerstaff said. "He has the ability now to play at different speeds because he sees the game and reads the game and understands, 'They're doing this, I need to do that.' He can dissect his opponent because he has slowed himself down to be able to read what's in front of him and then be able to make plays through that." INJURY REPORT The Cavs and their fans didn't know if All-Star center Jarrett Allen was going to be able to play in Game 6 on Friday night right up until the opening tipoff. "It's always about safety, right?" Bickerstaff said during his pregame news conference. "When you have an injury to your core, (it affects) your ability to change directions, get out of the way, move freely. ... We'll always look out for Jared." SOLID SWITCH Bickerstaff felt like a change was needed after Cleveland's two blowout losses in Orlando, so he added forward Marcus Morris Sr. to the rotation and the veteran responded with 12 points on 4-of-9 shooting, including a pair of 3-pointers, while playing 26 minutes, the most of any bench player. The minutes given to Morris came out of the account of Georges Niang, who played no fewer than 13½ minutes a game during the first four playoff games, yet never left the bench during Game 5. "He handled it like a pro," Bickerstaff said of Niang. "He was great during the game, helping his teammates out, still having conversations. Watching him the next day in practice he was going hard through all the things that we did, still staying engaged in it. Georges and I had a conversation and he'll still be a part of what we do." WIN THE THIRD Much was made of the third quarter during Game 4, when Cleveland was outscored 37-10, turning a nine-point lead at the half into an 18-point deficit heading into the fourth quarter. The performance was only slightly worse than Game 3, when Orlando outscored the Cavaliers 35-16. In Cleveland's three home wins, the Cavaliers outscored the Magic 69-61 in the third quarter. Bickerstaff was asked how much focus would be put on performing well after halftime in Game 6 "I think every quarter is important," he said. "The start's important, but then again, with 24 minutes to go, a tone can be set and it can kind of dictate how things go from there. So it's gonna be important for us to win the third quarter." Contact Shaun Bennett at (440) 329-7137 or sbennett@chroniclet.com.