Three takeaways from the LA Clippers’ gutsy Game 5 victory

Montrezl Harrell probably isn’t human

LA Clippers fans have known how good Montrezl Harrell is for some time now, and it’s fun to see the rest of the NBA world finding that out too. But Harrell has taken his play up another level in this series — maybe two — and it’s been incredible to witness.

So far this series, Harrell is shooting 75 percent from the floor and 76.4 percent from two-point range — both of which are league-high marks at the moment — on 11 attempts per game. He’s also posted marks of 20.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists in 28 minutes per game against Golden State and well, that’s ridiculous.

Typically, when a player is up against one of the league’s toughest teams, they don’t perform up to par. And not only is Harrell doing that, but his marks in this series are nearly all would-be career-highs, and it’s all completely sustainable.

Harrell is taking only the highest-percentage looks against the Warriors. According to Basketball Reference, just over 57 percent of Harrell’s shot attempts have come within three feet of the basket, and another 23 percent have come within 3-to-10 feet. Of those 57 percent coming at the rim, Harrell is converting an absurd 90.6 percent of his looks. That’s better than Giannis Antetokounmpo, Rudy Gobert and Clint Capela (the three regular season leaders in 2P% that advanced to the postseason) have all done this playoffs.

It doesn’t stop there for Harrell, though. The Nylon Calculus found that he’s scoring a playoffs-high1.77 points per possession as the roll man in the pick-and-roll, over half a point better than the second-ranked Steven Adams, who is scoring 1.25 points.

To put it simply, he’s been incredible. And if he continues to feast, the LA Clippers will at least have a shot in each of the remaining games, assuming the series goes to seven.