Bennedict Mathurin made his return to the lineup for the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, coming off the bench against the Toronto Raptors. 

Mathurin had missed the last four games with a toe injury.

Speaking after the game, Mathurin said about being back on the court with his team, "It's fun. It's like a girlfriend I haven't seen [laughs]. Very, very happy."

Mathurin logged 27 minutes and finished with 23 points on 7-14 shooting and 1-3 from three. He added four rebounds and six assists as the Clippers easily took care of business against the Raptors, winning 119-94 in a game where they only briefly trailed once. 

Mathurin was acquired by the Clippers from the Indiana Pacers in exchange for Ivica Zubac at the NBA trade deadline. 

With the Pacers, Mathurin averaged 17.8 points while shooting 43% from the field and 37% from three. After making the NBA Finals last season, the Pacers have struggled all season without All-Star Tyrese Haliburton and a variety of other injuries up and down their lineup. 

On the Clippers, Mathurin has increased his scoring number, averaging 20.1 points while maintaining his 43% shooting from the field, but seeing his three-point shooting dip to just 19%. 

Speaking more about his toe injury, Mathurin said, "I've been playing with it since the second game of the season. It's very challenging, but I love basketball, so it was all about coming back."

He said the injury got to the point where it was affecting the way he was playing and that's when the decision was made to sit him down for a handful of games. 

Asked how the toe impacted his shot given his extreme dip in three-point shooting, Mathurin said, "It definitely had an impact on my shot, for sure. I was able to get in the gym and fix it."

He noted that every shot of his was short as he tried to push through the injury, and that it's still not the way he wants it, but it's better than nothing. 

The Clippers are 10-7 with Mathurin in the lineup, but the advanced numbers are strongly in his favor. 

Removing low leverage minutes, Los Angeles has a +4.7 net rating with him on the floor. He and Kawhi Leonard have been excellent together with a 124.4 offensive rating and a 111.1 defensive rating in 188 minutes. 

Add in Darius Garland, who was acquired from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for James Harden, and those numbers skyrocket. 

In 34 minutes together, that trio has a +47.1 net rating with a 148.6 offensive rating and 101.5 defensive rating. 

It's a small sample size, but the competition will only get tougher as the Clippers head into the Play-In tournament and potentially the playoffs, but it's enough to give fans optimism moving forward.