Garland Praises New Teammates' Return and Energy in Loss to Kings

The Los Angeles Clippers got John Collins back on Saturday night, and even though the Sacramento Kings walked away with a 118-109 win at Intuit Dome, Darius Garland wanted to make one thing clear about his teammate's return.

Collins had missed seven straight games with a neck strain after a pair of scary falls, and his presence off the bench gave the Clippers something they had been missing during his absence.

Garland spoke about it in his postgame press conference and did not hold back on how much Collins meant to the group.

"It was good. Had a full group back. Brought a lot of energy for us both ends of the floor," Garland said after the loss. "We need that from him, just having that energy even though we was down he was still positive keeping us uplifted, keeping the group together."

"It was good to have a full team back, and just his presence made a difference for sure," Garland added. "His voice just makes a difference for this whole team. So it was good to have him back for sure."

Those are strong words from a guy who has only been on the roster for about six weeks, but it shows how quickly Collins has become a leader in this locker room and how much the Clippers missed him while he was sidelined.

Saturday's game was just the fifth for Garland since he was traded from the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for James Harden at the February trade deadline, and it was the first time he and Collins shared the floor together as teammates.

Even in a loss, Garland looked comfortable and put together one of his best outings in a Clippers uniform with 25 points on 9-of-20 shooting and 5-of-10 from three to go along with seven assists in 30 minutes.

He has been averaging 18.2 points and 6.8 assists per game on the season between Cleveland and Los Angeles, and his ability to run the pick-and-roll has already started to open things up for this Clippers offense.

Collins came off the bench on Saturday in his return, and while it was not a full workload, just having him in the rotation again changes things for the Clippers.

He is averaging 13.8 points and 5.2 rebounds per game this season while shooting 56.0 percent from the field and 42.3 percent from three in 54 games.

Since being put into the starting lineup back in late November, Collins had been playing some of the best basketball of his career before the neck injuries slowed him down.

Getting him and Garland on the floor at the same time gives head coach Tyronn Lue a pick-and-roll combination that could be tough for opposing defenses to handle down the stretch.

The bigger concern coming out of Saturday is Kawhi Leonard, who left the game with a sprained left ankle after scoring 31 points and setting a new franchise record with 45 consecutive games of at least 20 points.

There is no word yet on how much time Leonard might miss, and for a team sitting at 34-33 in the eighth spot in the Western Conference, losing their best player at this point in the season would be a tough blow.

The Clippers will look to bounce back on Monday night when they host the San Antonio Spurs.