Garland falls short for NBA’s Most Improved

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) - Darius Garland was considered an underdog to win the NBA’s Most Improved Player award and he did not pull the upset.

Many expected Ja Morant from Memphis to win the award and that was the case. Morant finished with 221 points in the voting. Five points are awarded for a first-place vote, three for second-place and one point for third-place votes.

Garland came in third, with 178 points. He also finished behind San Antonio’s Dejounte Murray who came in second with 183 votes.

100 NBA media members vote on the award, Garland appeared on 62 of the ballots.

Garland, in his third year, was an All-Star and poured in a career-high 21.7 points per game to go with 8.6 assists per contest, also a career high.

Morant has set career highs, 27.4 points per game and 5.7 rebounds.

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