The LA Clippers are set to take on the Golden State Warriors on Monday night for the second night of back-to-back sets. It will also mark the Clippers debut of guard Darius Garland.
Garland was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers during NBA trade deadline week, bringing him to Los Angeles and sending James Harden to the Cavs. But Garland missed last month's trade as he worked to recover from toe problems in both feet.
After weeks of running and rehab, Darius Garland will make his Clippers debut against Draymond Green and the Golden State Warriors. But what's a bit surprising is that Garland won't start in his first game.
“The thought of bringing him off the bench so he doesn't have to play with Kawhi [Leonard] “So he can find his own rhythm, his own timing and just try to run everything through him,” head coach Tyronn Lue said in his pregame media availability on Monday. "Just being aggressive, getting our tempo up, so that's kind of the thought process behind bringing him in off the bench. It's to try to get him going at a faster pace than he's been. So he'll keep doing that until we get his minutes up and then obviously he'll be our starter."
Between offseason foot surgery and a sprained right toe, Garland has played in a total of 25 games this season, which is why the Clippers have been so cautious about slowly bringing their prized guard back.
In addition to coming off the bench, Garland will face a minutes restriction for the foreseeable future until Garland gets into game shape and the Clippers become comfortable with his return to competition.
"I'm very excited that he's going to be on the floor," Lue said. "Just excited for him and then to let him play. Be aggressive, try to get his air, try to get his timing down, and just play free. Just want to get him out on the floor, see what we can do, how we can change some things up, but just excited to get him on the floor."
In his introductory press conference, Garland told members of the media that Tyronn Lue planned to use him like Kyrie Irving, and Lue confirmed those plans.
"That's what I told him," Tyronn Lue explained in early February, shortly after the trade. "He went back and watched a lot of film from those days. We'll put the ball in his hands, he's got to be able to make plays for himself and his teammates. He's got the ability to do that.
"If you look at all the charts, he's second in the league in pick-and-rolls and making quick decisions off plays, so he knows how to play the game. We need everything from that, his ability to score the basketball, his ability to make people better, create momentum, create momentum. He can do it all."
In his 408 game career over seven NBA seasons, Darius Garland has averaged 18.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game, while shooting 45.3 percent from the field and 38.6 percent from three.
