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LOS ANGELES – After days of hoping to get Montrezl Harrell back for Friday's seeding games finale against the Oklahoma City Thunder, the LA Clippers will have to wait a few more days.
The team announced that Harrell would not be available for the game, citing ‘self-isolation' as the reason for his absence. The Clippers forward arrived to Orlando on August 9th and was away from the team since July 17th. The expected four-day quarantine period given to Harrell, according to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, would've come to an end Thursday, clearing him for a return Thursday.
Head coach Doc Rivers sounded as cryptic as ever when initially asked about why Harrell wasn't cleared and what the plan is for him at this point.
“I’m just gonna throw him in there as you know,” Rivers told ClutchPoints. “He’s earned that right. The challenge will be just how ready he is. I don’t know if I’ve ever had a guy who hasn’t played in 8 games or whatever, hasn’t had any practice, and we’re just gonna throw him out on the floor in a playoff game. And we’re hoping that at this point. There’s no guarantee that will even happen, so we’ll see.”
When asked a follow up on the team knowing when Harrell will return, Doc wasn't very clear.
“We have an idea, but it’s not ideal. Let me put it that way.”
Not 20 minutes after his press conference, reports surfaced that Montrezl Harrell was actually given a seven day quarantine period, which ends Sunday and allows him to play in Game 1 against the Dallas Mavericks.
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A confusing Instagram post from Harrell two days ago, captured on Twitter, now makes a lot more sense knowing Harrell was given an additional three days of self-isolation.
????? pic.twitter.com/Uyvk6KqcAo
— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) August 13, 2020
How worried is Doc Rivers that Harrell will be forced into the lineup without any practice or seeding game action beforehand?
“I think a coach’s job is to always be worried,” Rivers laughed. “So I guess that would be the extent of it. Other than that, I don’t ever worry too much about it. It is what it is. I’ve always been that way, nothing I can about it. Things don’t go the way they’re planned. In this case, that’s been the case, but you make do of it and we gotta get going. We gotta get our rhythm during the playoffs was quickly as possible, so that would be the fear.”
With Montrezl Harrell's return date set for Monday night, the Clippers are expected to bring him along slowly despite throwing him into the fire right away.
Harrell has been averaging a career high 18.6 points and 7.1 rebounds for the Clippers on 58 percent shooting this season. He's a candidate for Sixth Man of the Year along with Lou Williams and Dennis Schroder.
