If I knew Rudy Gobert was going to sit out this game, and you asked me how many points Montrezl Harrell was going to score, I would’ve not hesitated for even a second before yelling “FIFTY!” at the top of my lungs. Then I would’ve added “MAKE THAT SIXTY!”. A center rotation consisting of Tony Bradley and Ekpe Udoh (Tyler Cavanaugh is a PF) shouldn’t be able to even make a dent in Harrell as he mercilessly pounds them inside. Udoh has a reputation as a good defender, but that’s only because he sucks so bad on offense that the only way people can figure for why he’s in the league at all is because of his D.
Sadly, Doc Rivers only felt like playing him 20 minutes in this game. It was an overtime game too, so there were extra minutes for him, but he just didn’t get to play very much. 24 points in 20 minutes, stretched out to the 50-ish minutes that were available translates to between 50 and 60 points, so I was right to yell those numbers. I was right about his rate of scoring. I just wasn’t right about his minutes situation.
This has been a trend for Harrell all season: monster production in non-monster minutes. There must be some reason why Rivers doesn’t just put him in for a normal (for a player of his caliber) amount of minutes so he can average 25 per game. I don’t know what that reason is, but it has to be there. A former COTY wouldn’t just make simple mistakes like not playing Harrell enough if he didn’t have a reason.