Montrezl Harrell, LA Clippers bench go for 85 points in win over Rockets

Montrezl Harrell scored a career-high 30 points and the LA Clippers bench contributed 85 points in a big win over Chris Paul and the Houston Rockets.

Montrezl Harrell really likes playing against the Houston Rockets. I mean really. And it’s no wonder, since he was basically a shoo-in for Houston when they made the trade to bring Chris Paul into town.

Harrell scores more points against his former team per game than any other team in the NBA. In six career games, Harrell has averaged 15.3 points and 5.3 rebounds on 65 percent shooting against the Rockets, which includes his 30-point outburst from last night. His next-best average against an individual team is his 14.0 per game against the Toronto Raptors, which makes us wonder — what did the Raptors do to get on his bad side?

Trezz scored from all over the floor last night, connecting on eight of his 13 field goal attempts — all of which came inside the paint — and 14 of 15 attempts from the free throw line. He only needed 27 minutes of play to surpass his previous career-high scoring total of 29, which he earned against the LA Clippers back in December 2016.

It was the the third time this season that Harrell had scored at least 10 points in a game, despite only playing just over 20 minutes every night. And at 24 years old, Trezz still has plenty of time to improve.

Even without Harrell’s 30, it still would’ve been a monster night for the LA Clippers bench. The Goon Squad, as they call themselves, went for 85 points last night — just one point shy of the highest total I could find, 86, which the Dallas Mavericks scored in 2011.

Shooting guard Lou Williams, who also formerly played for the Houston Rockets, had 23 points in just 26 minutes of play. Williams connected on seven of his nine field goal attempts and converted 75 percent of his three-point attempts.

It was by far his best game of the young season, though he has scored in double figures in all five this season.

Rookie guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was also efficient off the bench, logging 10 points and two steals in 31 minutes of action. Fellow rookie Jerome Robinson scored his first NBA points as well, splashing a triple on his first attempt.

The rest of the LA Clippers bench, filled out by Mike Scott, Milos Teodosic, Boban Marjanovic, and Tyrone Wallace scored the remaining 19 points. Teodosic, in his first appearance of the season, went for eight points, seven rebounds, and five assists.

It was a special night for the LA Clippers, and it’s one they’ll look to build upon when they host the Washington Wizards tomorrow night at STAPLES Center.