CAMDEN, N.J.–The Philadelphia 76ers are working through the injury to rising star Tyrese Maxey as they continue to get everybody on the same page and grow as a team. They have won four games in a row to begin their 7-game homestand as they await the dynamic guard’s return.
A big reason for their success is due to the play of De’Anthony Melton who has been starting in place of the injured Maxey. On the season, Melton is averaging 12.1 points and 4.6 rebounds while shooting 39.3% from deep and he has been excellent defensively.
When Maxey does return from his injury, Melton will then return to his role off the bench and that is something he has to prepare for.
“I’m ready for whatever,” said Melton. “We’ve been talking about it, but we know Tyrese is coming back. I mean, I don’t think too much is gonna change. We’re gonna go out there and play hard, we’re gonna play together, and the most important thing is get the dub.”
Melton is also continuing to deal with an ongoing back issue while moving into his recent starting role on the team. He did give a hint on how he has overcome that in an effort to help Philadelphia win games.
“I stopped sleeping on my stomach,” he laughed. “I used to sleep on my stomach a lot and I would wake up sometimes and my back would be irritated, but I was getting good sleep so now I try to sleep on my back and put pillows and stuff like that. So it’s definitely helped my back.”
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