Report: Clippers’ Montrezl Harrell won’t be back for Thursday’s game

Los Angeles Clippers backup center, Montrezl Harrell, left the Orlando bubble 12 days ago due to a family emergency.

The Los Angeles Clippers haven’t been as hard hit as other teams, with Landry Shamet as they only key player yet to make an appearance in Orlando. But even the No. 2 team in the West couldn’t fend off the plague that is squads losing players left and right. The Clippers, who will already be without leading bench scorer Lou Williams for two games, have to gameplan without Montrezl Harrell as well.

Harrell will miss Thursday’s reopening contest against the Los Angeles Lakers as he continues to deal with a family emergency (via Yahoo! Sports). The 6-foot-7 center left the bubble on July 17 and it’s still unclear as to when he plans to return.

Harrell is fourth on the team in scoring at 18.6 points per game. The Clippers backup center is shooting 58 percent from the field, including 59.3 percent from inside the arc, while grabbing 7.1 boards and swatting 1.1 shots. Harrell has played 63 of 64 games this season as well.

Can the Clippers survive without Montrezl Harrell?

Fortunately for the Clippers, starting center Ivica Zubac rejoined the squad after testing positive for the coronavirus earlier this month (via NBC Sports). The 7-foot big man started Monday’s scrimmage against the Sacramento Kings and recorded two points, six rebounds and one assist in 13 minutes. Expect Zubac to log much more than his usual 18.1 minutes per game in the early portion of the schedule.

This will open up more playing time for Joakim Noah as well. The 6-foot-11 center signed with the Clippers for the restart in order to get his NBA career back on track. In the three scrimmages, Noah combined for 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting (50 percent) and 17 boards in 56 minutes.

The Clippers have also been running JaMychal Green as a small-ball center. The 6-foot-8 power forward combined for 17 points and 24 rebounds in 66 minutes. The team might even get rookie Mfiondu Kabengele’s feet wet (although he didn’t play in any of the scrimmages).

The Clippers will take on the Lakers Thurs. at 9 p.m. ET in the ESPN Wide World of Sports Arena.