Paul Reed on Playing Alongside Montrezl Harrell, Facing Giannis
The Philadelphia 76ers’ backup center position is constantly changing on a nightly basis. As Sixers head coach Doc Rivers mentioned, it would “be in flux” all year long as he likes Paul Reed and Montrezl Harrell for different scenarios, the two veterans tend to switch on and off when certain situations call for their services.
Lately, Paul Reed’s been getting the nod to play directly behind Joel Embiid, but at times, Rivers will roll out Harrell if he senses a struggle or an offensive mismatch for the former DePaul standout.
On Friday night in Philadelphia’s matchup against the Milwaukee Bucks, Rivers went with Reed again when Embiid checked out of the game for rest.
Philadelphia bigs had their hands full on Friday as they faced the former MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. While Reed is no stranger to facing the “Greek Freak,” he had an opportunity to put his newfound strength to the test on Friday.
A couple of weeks back, Reed talked about how he’s been in the weight room getting stronger, which helps in key matchups against players who have a notable size advantage over him. While Reed felt good overall about his performance on Friday, he recognized there is still a lot of room for improvement.
“I mean, it shows,” said Reed after Friday’s game, discussing his strength. “But at the same time, I feel like there are still things that I have to work on defensively. The techniques I need to catch on to. I feel like I be getting a lot of cheap fouls, and it kind of hurts me sometimes.”
Last week, Reed mentioned he sometimes feels targeted when it comes to fouls. While Doc Rivers wants Reed to stop worrying about possible unfavorable calls, the third-year center is still trying to find ways not to let the frustration take over when he’s focused on his matchup.
“I’m already out there guarding a bigger defender, so I’m not gonna let him back me down,” Reed continued. “Then I decide to hold my ground, and I get a foul, it’s like, ‘Dang, what can I do?’ But it’s fun going against guys like that. It just shows me that I still got areas I can grow in my game.”
Reed clocked in for 12 minutes against the Bucks on Friday night, which marked the second-most amount of minutes he’s seen this season. While he was the primary backup behind Embiid for the most part, Doc Rivers experimented with Reed at the four playing alongside the other backup center Montrezl Harrell.
“I honestly like playing with Trez on the court with me,” said Reed. “I feel like having that extra body out there, and we kind of do the same kind of things, I think it puts a lot of pressure on the defense on the offense because of offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds. It makes it easier. It makes my job easier, honestly. I’m feeding off his energy. He’s being high-energy vocal. I’m being high-energy vocal, too, right along with him. So, it’s a good match.”
With a little over two minutes left to go in the third quarter, Harrell checked in to play alongside Reed. At the time, the Sixers led by four points. Although the lineup saw limited minutes, the Sixers managed to extend their lead by as many as eight points before closing out the third quarter.
All in all, Reed wrapped up Friday’s matchup with two points, six rebounds, and one steal in 12 minutes. He was a plus-two for the night as the Sixers went on to defeat the Bucks 110-102. Philly’s backup center position will continue to be unpredictable moving forward, but a solid performance from Reed against a tough Milwaukee team should definitely earn him some credit moving forward.
Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.