Montrezl Harrell’s Injury Stems From Catching Diving Teammate

The Philadelphia 76ers fired up their four-game preseason schedule last Monday with a matchup against the Brooklyn Nets. After taking down Brooklyn, the Sixers returned home to host the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Before hitting the road to face the Cavs for a matchup at their arena, the Sixers held a public scrimmage in Wilmington, Delaware, over the weekend.

The Sixers took the court at Chase Fieldhouse, home of their NBA G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, on Saturday afternoon.

Aside from Trevelin Queen, the Sixers were fully healthy and had everybody available to play. Sixers center Joel Embiid started on the opposite side of one of his backups, Montrezl Harrell.

Harrell, who’s stood out in his first two preseason games with the 76ers, had his day on the court end early on Saturday as he suffered an injury. It wasn’t clear at the time that Harrell was dealing with a setback, but the veteran center later confirmed what happened.

During the scrimmage, there was a moment when Harrell’s teammate Danuel House Jr., dove for a ball that was going out of bounds. To ensure House didn’t clear the bench and take a hard fall, Harrell caught the veteran before a risky jump made the sharpshooter pay.

“D-House just made a play and kind of lost the ball, and you know, hustling out of bounds for a loose ball,” Harrell told The Philadelphia Inquirer’s, Keith Pompey. “When he went to jump over the bench, he wasn’t going to make it. So I just kind of grabbed him out of the air so he wouldn’t slip over the bench so he could fall on me.”

As a result, Harrell is dealing with an intercostal strain. When the Sixers practiced on Sunday, Harrell wasn’t a participant. The team considered him day-to-day.

When the Sixers took the court on Monday night in Cleveland, Harrell was ruled out for the night. The good news is Harrell saved House from suffering an injury that would keep him off the court. While Harrell’s setback is far from ideal, at least the veteran center avoided significant injuries while helping his teammate out.

It’s unclear whether Harrell will be good to play in Wednesday’s preseason finale, but the former Sixth Man of the Year doesn’t seem to be expected to miss a ton of time moving forward.

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