Niederhauser, Dunn thriving in bigger roles for Clippers

While all the starry eyes were on Darius Garland during his highly anticipated Clippers debut on Monday night, a few other players were worthy of notice.

There, of course, was Kawhi Leonard, who did his thing, posting 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.

And Kris Dunn and Bennedict Mathurin, who together keyed a strong second-half effort as the Clippers pulled away for a 114-101 victory over the Golden State Warriors and moved into ninth place in the Western Conference standings.

Most notably, though, was rookie reserve center Yanic Konan Niederhauser, who grabbed some of the spotlight with 11 points, a team-best nine rebounds, two steals and four game-changing blocked shots in 21 minutes.

His final two blocks and a steal came during an 11-5 run that helped turn a three-point lead into a 95-86 advantage midway through the fourth quarter.

“Yeah, he’s a game-changer,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of Niederhauser after the game in San Francisco. “I think his ability to roll to the basket, get offensive rebounds (is important), but the biggest thing is just defensively challenging every shot, blocking shots at the rim, but his energy was really good for us.”

Niederhauser, whose unassuming locker room presence belies his aggressive on-court demeanor, said he worked on being more energetic during the summer after being criticized.

“I got questioned a lot for my motor,” the 22-year-old Swiss-born big man from Penn State said. “For a lot of people, I got questioned for that, so I took that seriously. I took that personally and worked a lot this summer during all the games.

“I played in the G (G League), all the games I played here in the NBA, I was trying to go 100% and work on my motor like that. So, now every time I’m out there, I just give everything I got and that’s the way I keep working on my motor.”

If Niederhauser ever needs inspiration, he simply should watch Dunn, who calls himself “a connector” for the Clippers. He had 16 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and two steals against the Warriors, the kind of numbers that reflect how much he has been counted on since James Harden left in a trade.

“The league is filled with so much talent … sometimes your trajectory goes a little different. You gotta play a role,” Dunn said during an on-court interview after Monday’s win. “I found my niche in the game; being a defensive player, but more importantly being a connector.

“There’s three things that get you to be in the league: one, be good, two, be a great teammate, and three, be available.”

Dunn took on much of the load after Harden left for the Cleveland Cavaliers and while the Clippers waited for Garland to get healthy. In the 10 games since the trade deadline, Dunn is averaging 9.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, 5.8 assists and 1.6 steals.

“He’s been great all year, even last year, I think he for sure should be First Team All-Defense this year,” Leonard said. “I’m not sure what the requirements are; I know he didn’t make it last year because of minutes or something like that.

“Hopefully he’s hitting those minutes cause he’s for sure going to get a First Team or Second Team. I think he’s for sure, the way I’ve been seeing him play since last year and this year.”

WHAT OTHERS SAW

Garland’s new teammates had plenty to say about the two-time All-Star point guard, who had 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, one steal and five turnovers in 23 minutes off the bench in his first game since Jan. 14.

“It’s hard to judge, but I mean obviously he did great,” Leonard said. “He stayed aggressive, knocked down some open shots, looked very promising out there. … I enjoyed his whole performance tonight.”

Said Mathurin: “It was great, it was great to have a great point guard like DG, to come back, play-make, it’s pretty much what we needed the most.”

Niederhauser said playing alongside Garland was “great.”

“I love to play with guards like him. Especially in my case since I’m a rolling big, a lot of threat,” he said.

Lue said Garland will be a consistent threat when he gets into a rhythm after a few more games.

“He could run the show and when he gets in, he’s a really good pick-and-roll player. He makes really good decisions … made big-time plays down the stretch. Then defensively, I mean, he’s going to get a lot of steals. He has the ability to be (a good defender). I think he just needs to be around the right pieces.”

PACERS AT CLIPPERS

When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.

Where: Intuit Dome

TV/radio: FDSN SoCal/570 AM