Reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell has seen his numbers drop a little bit this year. That is not a surprise since he joined a talented and deep contending team as the Los Angeles Lakers.
So nothing to be worried about if his stats went from an average of 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds to 14.7 and 6.6. His impact on the game and for the new team remained the same as last season playing for the Los Angeles Clippers.
In the last month, the Lakers found themselves in a bit of a struggle, missing different key players to injuries and health and safety protocol. Most notably, Anthony Davis is going through an extended absence due to an Achilles injury and it obviously affected majorly the season of the Lakers since in the win column.
Dennis Schröder and Marc Gasol missed games for contact tracing, and now LeBron James will be out for several weeks following a scary injury that put the entire Lakers Nation on pins and needles.
Right before the All-Star Break, the purple and gold found themselves without not only Davis but also Gasol, thus missing both their big men. While newly acquired Damian Jones (on a 10-day contract) was immediately injected into the starting lineup, Harrell was the only one remaining from the original center rotation.
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With two such significant misses in his department and riding a two-game losing streak, after the break, Trezz has stepped up and brought his A-game on the court. Since the season resumption, he is averaging 20.3 points and 7.8 rebounds in less than 30 minutes per game.
Montrezl Harrell has been massive for the Los Angeles Lakers.
He had 20+ points in four of six outings and even in a bad night like the one against the Charlotte Hornets, where he finished with seven points, really struggling to put the ball in the basket, he contributed with five big offensive rebounds and his signature drawn charge. The Lakers also won the first four games, before the ill-fated injury to LeBron.
Harrell knew that with both Gasol and Davis out and the young Jones only available, it was his duty to take control of the frontcourt, and his time to shine, sustaining the team. A much-needed break for such a condensed season gave him the time to recover and unleash his game.
However, he already gave signs of starting to warm up the engines with a 26 points and 12 rebounds game in the loss against the Sacramento Kings right before the All-Star Game. Then, after it, he and the team got ready at the gate to start the second half of the season, with or without AD.
Unfortunately, as mentioned and very well known, the recent injury to LeBron made things much tough for the Lakers, and while Harrell responded with two nearly identical 23 and 10 games, they suffered two losses.
It is anyway good to see that Montrezl is living up to the increased load on his shoulders. The Los Angeles Lakers need him now more than ever. These trying times might end up being beneficial for the team in sight of the upcoming playoff run.