Montrezl Harrell was decked by an elbow to the face. Then Harrell decked the Chicago Bulls!
Montrezl Harrell came off the bench and did what he has always does. He came out and played hard and with energy. Only in this game, he delivered when the Lakers sorely needed it. Harrell was knocked to the floor for a few minutes drawing a charge on Chicago’s Daniel Gafford. An elbow to the face really woke Trezl up and he almost immediately started dominating on the glass.
Trez is always ready to battle on the boards ⚔️ pic.twitter.com/YB291w0Ld0
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) January 9, 2021
Montrezl Harrell had his best game of the season, scoring 17 points and grabbing 14 rebounds. His biggest impact on the game was his 7 offensive rebounds. That doubled his average of three for the season. To put this in perspective, he is tied for the team lead with Anthony Davis who is in the starting lineup. The only other Lakers player that averages more than one is Marc Gasol.
By the 4th quarter, it was Harrell giving Gafford the knockout blow putting him in a blender and making a smoothie out of him.
https://twitter.com/Lakers/status/1347771064869273601
Then he went back down the floor yelling “I told you!”.
While LeBron was quietly controlling the game with his playmaking, Harrell provided energy and resistance to a Bulls team that was getting everything they wanted similar to the previous game. His activity helped wear down the Bulls frontline.
A surprise starter for the Los Angeles Lakers provided a spark from long distance. Read on to see how this player did.