DETROIT — The Philadelphia 76ers hit the road on Wednesday to take on a struggling Detroit Pistons team, and they received substantial contributions up and down the roster.
While Joel Embiid stole the headlines with 41 points, 11 rebounds and five assists, Kelly Oubre Jr. hopped off the bench and poured in 17 points as the Sixers knocked off the Pistons, 129-111, at Little Caesars Arena.
In his fourth game back from a rib fracture, Oubre scored six quick points in the opening quarter. That seemed to get him going, something Philadelphia has been waiting for since his return.
“I like his shooting and a lot of things,” coach Nick Nurse said. “Just his confidence and the way he’s flowing into it. He made a couple of 3s that were pretty heavily guarded I thought, but like, listen, there’s a lot of guys in this league that can bolt up and hit 3s when they’re guarded, and that comes in handy sometimes when you’re searching a little bit for offense.”
Another thing Oubre did well on the offensive end was move off the ball. His athleticism comes in handy on that end, and he has a high basketball IQ the Sixers rely on.
“So again, thought he was cutting, thought he was confident, that he played physical with the ball,” Nurse added. “He’s played through some hits on his way to some of his drives and still found a way to score them.”
Oubre aggressively attacked the paint, and, really, it looked like it was the first time he was getting into the paint since his return from injury. It was a very good sign for the Sixers as the veteran out of Kansas continues to work his way back from injury.
“Honestly, man, psychologically, today (Wednesday) was my first game back without my rib brace,” Oubre said. “So I was like, ‘I’m gonna give it a go’. We talked about that last game. And I was just like, ‘You know what? Psychologically, I’m good. I’m ready. I feel strong.’ So I think I’m good.”
When Oubre is out there, his movement helps Embiid when he is doubled. The Pistons sent a lot of doubles Embiid’s way in this one, and the big fella picked them apart. Oubre’s presence helped in that regard.
“He’s slowly getting better,” Embiid said. “Obviously, from what we saw the first couple of games, he’s gonna slowly get better and get back to this level which should help us and make us a way better team than we are so I’m just excited. The thing that I like is no one is forcing anything. We’re just playing with each other, taking whatever is available, and that’s how you do it.”
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