Darius Garland Suffers Scary Fall, Hits Head on Court vs. Knicks

Darius Garland suffered a scary fall during the Cleveland Cavaliers game against the New York Knicks on Friday night. Garland drove to the basket during the second quarter as Karl-Anthony Towns contested his left-handed layup. Garland was knocked off-balance in the air, came down hard and his head appeared to bounce of the court.

Garland remained on the floor for a few minutes while players, coaches and trainers gathered around him, but eventually got up and shot his free throws. Despite Garland's protest he was then replaced by Donovan Mitchell. He returned to the game after being checked out by trainers.

Darius Garland remained in the game after he'd went down with an apparent head injury 😳

Tough as NAILS!pic.twitter.com/QZzV9vLK0A
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) February 22, 2025

Garland broke his jaw last season and missed more than a month. It seems he escaped a similar fate this time.

"I'm good."

Darius Garland stayed in the game and shot free-throws after hitting his head on the floor going for a layup. pic.twitter.com/g1PcG0Ohqz
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 22, 2025

Garland struggled from the floor even before his fall, but the Cavaliers took a 30-point lead into the fourth quarter so it didn't really matter.

The Cavs were coming off a win against the Nets on Thursday and had won eight of nine games going into the All-Star break. Garland represented the Cavaliers in the All-Star game.