Clippers Injury Report vs. Warriors: LA Has Major Injury Advantage in Darius Garland's Debut

The Los Angeles Clippers finally righted the ship on Sunday night against the Pelicans after three straight losses. They inched a little closer to the eight-seeded Golden State Warriors with 23 games left in the season. And on Monday, they are facing the Warriors with an excellent opportunity to cut their lead to 1.5 games.

Not only are the Clippers healthier than ever heading into Monday's game, but they are also facing a very short-handed Warriors. In addition to Jimmy Butler, who is out for the season, the Warriors will be without Steph Curry and Kristaps Porzingis. Rookie Will Richard is also out, and Gary Payton II is questionable ahead of the game. This means that the Warriors will likely start the game with a Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Gui Santos, De'Anthony Melton, and Draymond Green lineup, with Al Horford and Pat Spencer as the first players off the bench.

That is certainly not a formidable Warriors group, even with the rest advantage over the Clippers. LA had to travel to the Bay Area after defeating the Pelicans on Sunday night. For an older team like the Clippers, the second night of a back-to-back set can always be challenging. But Monday's clash is a different story.

Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard Will Share the Floor For the First Time on Monday

The Clippers are finally getting Darius Garland back. The star point guard is not going to play his usual share of minutes as he hasn't seen the floor in over six weeks, recovering from a toe injury. He will be slowly eased into the lineup, but even in limited minutes, he should make a world of difference. The Clippers desperately need more ball-handling, playmaking, and shooting as they have lacked true point guard play since James Harden's departure.

In addition to Garland's debut, the Clippers have the benefit of a largely clean bill of health on the injury report. The only key contributor who will miss Monday's game is John Collins. The starting power forward exited the Pelicans game with an apparent right arm injury. However, he is listed as out with neck soreness, the same issue that cost him two games after he suffered a bad fall against the Lakers on February 20th.

Kawhi Leonard, who has been dealing with a lingering ankle injury, never popped up on the injury report despite playing last night. Considering that he only played 29 minutes last night, Leonard should be in line for his usual workload. Hopefully, having Leonard and Garland share the floor for the first time will be enough to clinch the crucial win for the Clippers.