As Darius Garland made his debut for the Los Angeles Clippers in the 114-101 win over the Golden State Warriors on Monday night, the star would speak after the outing that had been highly anticipated. With Garland coming off the bench for the Clippers in his debut, there's no denying the work that needs to be done to refine himself after missing significant time.
In the win, Garland would record 12 points on four of nine shooting from the field, two of seven from three-point range, to go along with two assists and two rebounds, while committing five turnovers. Garland would say that his debut focused on him “getting adjusted” to his new surroundings.
“Just getting adjusted,” Garland said, according to The Athletic's Law Murray. “Getting adjusted to L.A., getting to know the guys. Getting to know the staff, everybody around the organization, and just trying to get back to me…Yeah, man, it’s good getting out there with the guys for sure. Especially getting a win, my first win with the Clips. It’s a blessing.”
Darius Garland came off the bench after a Clippers debut that was a month in the making. The Clippers were down 17 and Garland's first minutes were very rusty
And then Garland started playing with Kawhi Leonard and Kris Dunn. Inside the DG the PG debut in GS 👉🏾 pic.twitter.com/0ncau2yjYu
— Law Murray 🕯️ (@LawMurrayTheNU) March 3, 2026
Darius Garland's Clippers debut got off to a rocky start
While a toe injury had kept Garland from making his Clippers debut, as he was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers in the deal involving James Harden, he was rusty to start, even getting major attention from the Warriors on defense.
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to get a blitz after a month off,” Garland said, via Murray. “But Steve Kerr always got something up under his sleeve.”
After playing more minutes, it was noticeable that the 26-year-0ld was getting more comfortable, with Garland even saying that he believed the “cobwebs” were knocked off.
“That second half, that’s when it really started rolling,” Garland said. “KD [Kris Dunn] came in, got some really big steals. Jordan [Miller] … Yanic [Konan Niederhauser] played his butt off. And ‘whi [Kawhi Leonard] gonna be ‘whi, of course.”
Garland will look to further improve as the rest of Los Angeles' season goes on, with the next game on Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers, as the team currently has a 29-31 record.
