76ers vs. Hornets: Montrezl Harrell Praised By Sixers Stars
It seemed for a small stretch of games that Paul Reed had won the backup center position officially, surpassing Montrezl Harrell. Then Doc Rivers cut Reed’s minutes to just three on Friday night against the Los Angeles Lakers before not playing him outside of garbage time on Sunday against the Charlotte Hornets.
Without Reed in the primary rotation for the night, the veteran center Montrezl Harrell garnered all of the backup center minutes when the thriving Embiid went off the floor.
Harrell has shown flashes of stellar offensive play this season, mirroring his years with the Los Angeles Clippers. Unfortunately, he’s just been inconsistent.
When the Hornets came to South Philly on Sunday night, Harrell earned nearly 13 minutes of playing time and performed like he had something to prove.
Per usual, Harrell brought some much-needed high energy off the bench for the Sixers when his number called.
“I thought he was great, obviously, playing against his old team. His energy, his effort, he always plays with that type of chip on his shoulder,” said Sixers forward Tobias Harris. "Tonight, he just made some great plays out there defensively, most importantly. We need that from him every single night.”
Rebounding has been a struggle for the Sixers recently. After getting dominated on the glass over the last week, Philly’s bigs needed to get active off missed shots on Sunday night, especially on the offensive end. Harrell snagged 20 percent of his team’s offensive rebounds when he was on the floor, according to Cleaning the Glass.
“He was great,” said Sixers center Joel Embiid. “Offensively and defensively, that’s what we need. Whether it’s him, whether it’s Paul, that’s what we need from them. Just coming in, bringing energy offensively and defensively. Rebounding is key, and then defensively, just try and do the best job possible based on the concepts that we have. But he was great. Need to keep that going.”
Offensively, Harrell had one of his better performances this year with limited minutes. Getting up five shots from the field, Harrell made all but one of his attempts while also going 1-3 from the charity stripe.
“He impacted the game,” James Harden said. “He had some nice defensive plays, he took a charge, he had blocked shots, and then offensively, he finished around the rim. He’s smart. He’s been in his league for a very long time, so getting that chemistry back, that pick-and-roll back with him, we got some work to do, but these last few games was really a good start for us.”
Harrell wrapped up his 12-minute shift with nine points on Sunday night. The Sixers, who cruised past the Hornets with a 131-113 victory, were happy to see the veteran get back on track, helping the team improve to 14-12 on the year.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.
