NBA overreactions: Darius Garland’s defense, Karl-Anthony Towns’ drives and more

It’s still early in the NBA season, which means there’s still time to pull off a few overreactions.

If you missed Part I of this story, check it out here. Here is Part II:

For all the talk surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers (13-0) — point forwards Evan Mobley, Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell’s lavish scoring, Jarrett Allen’s relentless mission to contest every shot at the rim — a lot of smaller narratives are also unfolding.

You don’t maintain an undefeated record almost a month into the season because only a few elements work. Isaac Okoro hits a surprising number of his 3s. Dean Wade was a revelation in the starting lineup. Caris LeVert is off to the best start of his career. And Garland looks like a different player, regardless of his scoring.

It wasn’t long ago that the Cavs planted two towering rim protectors low because they put two targets at the top of their defense. Garland was one of those guys. The Boston Celtics exposed him during a second-round playoff series last season, running him into screen after screen. There wasn’t much Garland could do.

At the time he was weak – and it wasn’t all his fault. He suffered a jaw injury in the middle of last season, couldn’t eat as much as he needed and lost weight. After the season, bigger opponents could bully him and physical screeners could put him where they wanted.

However, Cleveland did not lose faith in Garland’s defense, even though he was never a world stopper. The team’s internal metrics painted his pre-injury performance as average, pulled up to acceptable levels because he gets steals. But his improvement this season, one of the major factors in the Cavs’ winning streak, has little to do with forcing turnovers.

Garland is stronger. He fights through the same screens he was hanged on only months ago. He stays in front of defenders.

In the play below, watch Garland step up over the screen in this game against the Chicago Bulls, then hold his own against 20-point scorer Zach LaVine, guiding LaVine into a difficult stretch of the court and forcing him into low-percentage shooting:

Garland is better, but of course he is. Everything seems to be going right in Cleveland.

Defend KAT with centers at your own risk

The New York Knicks’ woes do not include Towns, who has gotten off to a roaring start in his first season with the franchise.

He has already gone for 40-plus points twice, 30-plus five times and has made more 3-pointers than missed. His biggest moments so far have come while attacking slower big men.

The armed forces have taken different approaches to the cities. More versatile defenses will throw smaller players at Towns and place their centers on Josh Hart, an active cutter and screener they feel comfortable leaving open beyond the 3-point arc. In these scenarios, the center will roam and clog the paint, and a smaller defender will try to get into Towns’ legs in hopes of getting the All-Star big man into less effective post-ups.

But recently, teams have been throwing conventional centers at Towns, and things haven’t gone well for them.

Physical drives take Towns to the rim, one of the Knicks’ few ways to consistently force free throws. Most recently, he picked apart the Chicago Bulls’ Nikola Vučević during a 46-point outburst. Chicago never sent help Vučević’s way, which only encouraged Towns to send passes at the rim and then take off after the basket.

He similarly slaughtered the Milwaukee Bucks’ Brook Lopez, a defensive-minded 7-footer most comfortable in the paint, a week earlier. Lopez had to step beyond the 3-point arc to defend Towns. When he did, Towns would slam a shoulder into Lopez, meet his mouse and chug to the basket.

The new-look Knicks are in transition, sitting at 5-6 without a league-average defense and with other elements screaming they need more time to get comfortable together. But Towns’ first impression couldn’t be better — and it’s not just because he’s off to his best shooting start ever.

Hawks let Jalen Johnson battle through growing pains

Not even a minute into the Atlanta Hawks’ miraculous win in Boston this week, Johnson grabbed an offensive rebound and pushed the basketball upcourt to teammate Dyson Daniels, who whipped the ball back to Johnson as Johnson crossed half court. Johnson caught the pass but also got his feet tangled, pulled a foot and made an obvious trip.

A quarter later, with the clock winding down in the second period and the Hawks hoping to make one last shot, Johnson deflected a pass and then pulled the other way, hoping to set up a 3-pointer before the buzzer. He received another pass as he approached the arc and turned toward the basket. But he took four obvious shuffle steps.

Another journey.

This has become a theme for Johnson, who got off to a cold start in the first few weeks but has improved. The Hawks believe he is more than just a shooter or athletic lob threat. They want him to control the ball in transition and have put the basketball in his hands more than ever. He leads fast breaks and averages 5.3 assists per game. match, which is comfortably a career high.

Atlanta believes that could make him more of a focal point. An athlete of that ilk with an intimidating 6-foot-9 frame is a horror story for any team trying to get back on defense, especially if Johnson gets more comfortable as a distributor — and especially if he gets his footwork right.

The first step, however, is these feet.

Johnson travels disproportionately on these kinds of plays. He committed two walking violations in the win over Boston. He has gone on four step-through moves so far this season and has 12 trips — twice as many as anyone else in the NBA — through 12 games.

However, the Hawks won’t back down from him. This is all part of the 22-year-old’s learning process, and his other numbers (19 points, 10 rebounds, five assists) tell you why.

For what it’s worth, if you’re particularly concerned about Johnson’s travel, here’s some trivia: The same player has led the NBA in trips taken for six consecutive seasons: two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Nets are too fresh for their own good

The Brooklyn Nets are recruiting good basketball players when too much of the Eastern Conference is not.

Along with Mikal Bridges being traded away this summer was another trade. Brooklyn regained the rights to its 2025 first-round pick, giving the organization an opportunity to sink to the bottom of the standings before a draft loaded with talent at the top.

Then Dennis Schröder showed up to training camp with a float.

Schröder won’t continue to drain 46 percent of his 3s. The offense is a surprising 12th in points per game. possession at the moment. Chances are it won’t continue. And the tippy top of the organization will likely make sure that defeats come more often than they have during the 5-7 start. But the East is a game — just 3.5 games separate the fourth-place Knicks from the last-place Raptors — and new head coach Jordi Fernandez has this group playing hard.

Schröder, Cameron Johnson, Dorian Finney-Smith and Nic Claxton are all solid players. Ben Simmons has been a reliable distributor. Cam Thomas scores in droves. Ziaire Williams makes three energy plays per game that makes you think Brooklyn might have found something.

Not all of those guys will last the season with the Nets. Finney-Smith is on an expiring contract. Johnson can help a winning team. And so on.

But the Nets have competitive basketball players and participate in an uncompetitive basketball conference. It’s not the best formula to end up with Cooper Flagg.

Dyson Daniels is on his way to All-Defense honors

Another Hawks point, because no one who enjoys this sport should look away from Daniels right now.

He has 23 steals in his last four games, 19 in his last three and is in the midst of a three-game streak where he has collected at least six steals in each of those matchups. He has already deflected 76 passes this season, 31 more than anyone else, and is averaging 7.6 per game, which would set the record for most in a season since the NBA began tracking that stat in 2015-16 . And that would epically tie that record and double the number that led the league for some seasons.

There has been a shift away from steals as an essential part of defense in recent seasons. If a player picks up a ton of takeaways, he must be a gambler. But that is not always true. And when you knock off as many passes and dribbles as Daniels, the criticism starts to matter.

If he continues this pace, Daniels has a shot at the single-season steals record: 3.7, set by Alvin Robertson in 1985-86. Daniels sits at 3.6.

Sign up for The Bounce, the essential NBA newsletter from Zach Harper and Athletics staff, delivered free to your inbox.

(Top photo of Darius Garland and Stephen Curry: Jason Miller/Getty Images)