Garland speaks out as the Clippers reach .500.
The Los Angeles Clippers beat the New York Knicks 126-118 on Monday night at Intuit Dome, and the win meant a little more than the average regular season game.
It pushed the Clippers back to .500 at 32-32, a mark they had not seen since early November.
After starting the season in a brutal 6-21 hole, the turnaround has been nothing short of remarkable, and the team has now won 26 of their last 37 games.
Following the game, point guard Darius Garland kept it simple when he spoke about what the milestone means to him and the rest of the team.
"I came in just to win games. We put in work all season to win games," Garland said. "It's exciting to be back to 500, but we got a lot more ways to go. We're not done yet."
Garland's Growing Impact in Los Angeles
Garland came to the Clippers at the trade deadline on February 5 in a deal that sent James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers, and he has fit in well with his new team since making his debut on March 3.
The two-time All-Star is still working his way back from toe injuries that limited him to just 26 games in Cleveland this season, but he has looked comfortable in the Clippers' system as he ramps up his minutes.
Against the Knicks, Garland turned in his best performance yet as a Clipper, finishing with 23 points and seven assists while shooting 5-for-9 from three-point range in just his second start with the team.
His teammates have noticed the difference he brings, too, with Kris Dunn recently praising Garland's pick-and-roll ability and decision-making as he adjusts to life in Los Angeles.
On the season, Garland is averaging 18.0 points and 6.9 assists per game across his time with both the Cavaliers and the Clippers, and those numbers should only go up as he gets more comfortable and works past the minutes restrictions.
Leonard Keeps Rolling
While Garland is still settling in, Kawhi Leonard has been playing at an MVP-caliber level all season for the Clippers, and Monday night was no different.
The seven-time All-Star led the team with 29 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, extending his streak of consecutive games with 20 or more points to 42, which is the second-longest active run in the league.
Leonard is averaging 27.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.7 assists on the year, and his steady production has been the engine behind the Clippers' incredible turnaround from that early-season mess.
Bennedict Mathurin added 28 points off the bench, Derrick Jones Jr. and Brook Lopez each chipped in 16, and the balanced scoring effort was exactly what head coach Tyronn Lue wanted to see.
What Comes Next
The Clippers' 32-32 record puts them right in the thick of the Western Conference play-in race, and they have five games at home coming up to try and build some more momentum.
The Knicks (41-25) put up a fight on Monday, with Karl-Anthony Towns pouring in 35 points on 13-of-17 shooting, but they could not overcome the Clippers' hot shooting and the kind of late-game execution that was missing in Friday's collapse against the Spurs.
For Garland, the focus is on building something with his new teammates and continuing to push the Clippers forward.
He spoke about how the veterans in the locker room have welcomed him and helped him learn the playbook quickly, and his on-court chemistry with Leonard and Mathurin is growing by the game.
The .500 mark is a nice milestone for a team that looked like it was headed toward the lottery just a few months ago, but Garland's message after Monday's win says everything about where this group's head is at right now.
They are not done yet.