PHILADELPHIA — Once again, the Philadelphia 76ers are looking to find ways to replace what they are missing from an injured starter. De’Anthony Melton will miss at least the matchups with the Denver Nuggets, Orlando Magic, and Charlotte Hornets as he works through his lumbar spine injury.
Melton missed three games with lumbar spine soreness before returning for two games and is now out due to what the team is calling lumbar spine stress response.
Coach Nick Nurse now has to figure out how to replace Melton’s production. He is one of the top defensive players in the league and he spearheads Philadelphia’s defensive attack in terms of slowing down opposing guards.
“We gotta figure it out, right?” said Nurse. “It’s gotta be a little more Nico (Batum), a little more Pat (Beverley), a little more Kelly (Oubre Jr.). I thought Kelly had a good first half yesterday (Monday) defensively. Much better than he’s kind of been.”
With Melton out, the Sixers do have options. Obviously, as Nurse pointed out, they do have other perimeter defensive options. Those players will have to step up in the absence of Philadelphia’s top defender. Especially, Oubre in this situation.
“I kinda challenged him on some of that stuff and he’s taken the challenge so continue to get him back in rhythm,” Nurse added of Oubre. “I think Kelly’s the natural kind of fit because we were playing without him for quite a bit. He’s the natural one to take over kind of Melt’s 2-guard position and the kind of defensive–he’s a playmaker on D, right?”
Oubre, like Melton, can get his hands on a lot of balls on the defensive end of the floor. The Sixers will need him to continue to do so and force turnovers to help Philadelphia get out in transition and get fast break points.
“He’s a playmaker like Melt is,” Nurse finished. “Melt darts in and get his hands on a lot of balls, gets a lot of steals. Kelly can be the same.”
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