76ers' Doc Rivers Applauds Montrezl Harrell's Game vs. Pacers

Without Joel Embiid on the floor for Wednesday night’s matchup against the Indiana Pacers, the Philadelphia 76ers had to get creative with the center position.

One could’ve assumed that Sixers head coach Doc Rivers would start the veteran Montrezl Harrell while having the former second-round pick Paul Reed come off the bench. Instead, Rivers continued having Harrell come off the bench while utilizing PJ Tucker as the small-ball five in the starting lineup.

Once Harrell got into the game, though, it was clear he was going to make it hard for the Sixers’ coaching staff to take him off the floor.

In his first four minutes of action in the fourth quarter, Harrell went 3-3 from the line, scoring six points. During the second quarter, Harrell put up another six points going 2-2 from the field and 2-2 from the line. He finished the first half with 12 points in under ten minutes.

Harrell wasn’t a one-half wonder. While he was quieter on the offensive end in the 13 minutes he spent on the court in the second half, Harrell still hadn’t missed a shot from the field in regulation, scoring five points by going 2-2 from the field.

Then in overtime, Harrell got the nod to play all five minutes over Tucker. During that time, Harrell tacked on two more points as the Sixers snagged a thrilling victory.

“He was great,” said Doc Rivers discussing Harrell’s performance. “We talk about being a star in your role every night. He did exactly what his role said he should do. Be the low man on defense. We talked about that all on film because they’re so quick. They are gonna beat you off the dribble. If the low man’s not there, they are gonna make layups. I thought Trezl got a charge, four blocks; he was there all night.”

Offensively and defensively, Harrell was a force down low for the 76ers. Overall, he finished the night with 19 points, making all but one of his nine shots from the field and going 3-4 from the charity stripe. In addition to his scoring, Harrell came down with five rebounds while blocking four shots and snatching one steal.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.