![\"Darius](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-2266049412-e1773361103431.jpg\")
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Darius Garland of the LA Clippers reacts to being called for a foul during the first half of a game against the Minnesota Timberwolves.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Clippers<\/a> will be without one of their newest contributors Friday night.<\/p>\n Guard Darius Garland<\/a> will miss the Clippers\u2019 matchup against the Chicago Bulls<\/a> due to left toe injury management, the team announced<\/a> Thursday.<\/p>\n The absence interrupts what had been an impressive early stretch for Garland since arriving in Los Angeles at the trade deadline. The Clippers acquired<\/a> Garland and a second-round pick in a deal that sent former MVP James Harden<\/a> out of Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Garland has made an immediate impact since joining the team, helping fuel the Clippers\u2019 recent surge up the Western Conference standings.<\/p>\n Garland\u2019s Strong Start With Clippers<\/p>\n Garland most recently delivered another strong outing on Wednesday in the Clippers\u2019 153\u2013128 rout of the Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>.<\/p>\n The former Cleveland Cavaliers<\/a> All-Star finished with 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-9 from three-point range, while adding six assists, one rebound and two steals in 23 minutes.<\/p>\n Garland did not debut with the Clippers until March 2 but quickly moved into the starting lineup, making his first start last Saturday in a victory over the Memphis Grizzlies<\/a>.<\/p>\n Los Angeles has gone 3\u20130 with Garland as a starter, and the veteran point guard has been highly productive in that role. Across those three starts, Garland has averaged 21.7 points, 6.3 assists, 2.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game.<\/p>\n He has scored at least 21 points in each start, shooting 46.9 percent from the field and 50 percent from three-point range, a sign that he has quickly found his rhythm within the Clippers\u2019 offense.<\/p>\n Kawhi Leonard Leads Clippers\u2019 Offensive Explosion<\/p>\n Even without Garland available Friday, the Clippers enter the matchup riding strong momentum.<\/p>\n Los Angeles overwhelmed Minnesota on Wednesday behind a dominant performance from Kawhi Leonard<\/a>, who erupted for 45 points in one of his most efficient games of the season.<\/p>\n Leonard shot 15-of-20 from the field, drilled 6-of-9 from three-point range, and made 9-of-10 free throws as the Clippers produced their highest scoring output of the season.<\/p>\n Leonard scored 18 points in the first quarter, helping Los Angeles build a 38\u201327 lead, and had 28 points by halftime with the Clippers ahead 74\u201365.<\/p>\n By the end of the third quarter Leonard had already reached 39 points, and Los Angeles sealed the win with a 44\u201330 fourth-quarter advantage.<\/p>\n The Clippers finished the game 19-of-37 from three-point range as they cruised to their third straight victory and sixth win in seven games.<\/p>\n Clippers Bench Expected to Step Up Without Garland<\/p>\n With Garland sidelined on Friday, the Clippers will lean more heavily on their supporting cast to handle ball-handling and scoring duties.<\/p>\n Bennedict Mathurin<\/a> continued his strong run off the bench Wednesday, scoring 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting while converting 10-of-12 free throws. Mathurin also added two rebounds, three assists and a steal in 25 minutes.<\/p>\n The forward, acquired earlier this season in a deal that sent Ivica Zubac<\/a> to the Indiana Pacers<\/a>, has emerged as a key scoring option for Los Angeles.<\/p>\n Mathurin has now scored 20 or more points in four of his last five games, averaging 20.4 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists during that stretch.<\/p>\n Veteran guard Kris Dunn<\/a> also contributed 17 points and six assists in 24 minutes against Minnesota.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, young guard Jordan Miller<\/a> provided valuable playmaking with 14 points and a team-high seven assists in 29 minutes. Miller has settled into the primary backup point guard role behind Garland, averaging 9.5 points, 3.0 assists and 2.5 rebounds over his last six appearances.<\/p>\n Clippers Climbing Western Conference Standings<\/p>\n The victory over Minnesota pushed the Clippers to 33\u201332, continuing a remarkable turnaround after the team opened the season 6\u201321.<\/p>\n Los Angeles now sits eighth in the Western Conference, maintaining a one-game lead over the Golden State Warriors<\/a> in the race for the final playoff spots.<\/p>\n While Garland\u2019s absence on Friday removes a key playmaker from the lineup, the Clippers\u2019 recent surge \u2014 powered by Leonard\u2019s scoring and a deep supporting cast \u2014 has positioned them firmly in the postseason chase.<\/p>\n How Los Angeles responds without its newly acquired point guard against Chicago will be the next test in its late-season push.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tAlder Almo<\/a> is a sports journalist covering the NBA for Heavy.com. He has more than 20 years of experience in local and international media, including broadcast, print and digital. He previously covered the Knicks for Empire Sports Media and the NBA for Off the Glass. Alder is from the Philippines and is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey. More about Alder Almo<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Clippers\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Darius Garland of the LA Clippers reacts to being called for a foul during the first half…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":655358,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3771],"tags":[7,920,919,329,3824,6],"class_list":["post-655357","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-chicago-bulls","tag-basketball","tag-bulls","tag-chicago","tag-chicago-bulls","tag-chicagobulls","tag-nba"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116219111860996104","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655357","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=655357"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/655357\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/655358"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=655357"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=655357"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=655357"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}