De’Anthony Melton returned to the floor in the Philadelphia 76ers’ 139-132 overtime loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday. With Melton’s return, Kelly Oubre Jr. gets pushed back to a bench role with Nic Batum in the starting lineup.
After a solid run of production as a starter, Oubre didn’t have his best game coming off the bench in Atlanta. He had seven points on 3-for-11 shooting and he was 0-for-3 from deep. He looked a bit out of rhythm and it affected his overall performance in the loss.
“It’s tough,” Oubre told reporters after the game. “Just got to refocus and my foot was kind of bothering me. I couldn’t really break it in and get loose within the minutes I was getting, but I was just blessed to be on the court. I’ve just got to figure it out. It’s tough.”
The foot issue could be of concern, but Oubre is going to see the doctor and follow the orders of the medical staff.
“I don’t know, man,” he added. “It feels like turf toe or something. I thought it was plantar fasciitis because I’ve been dealing with that a while. The doctor looked at it. He said it’s some bone down there, but I don’t know what it is. It’s like tendinitis.”
On the season, Oubre is averaging 14 points and shooting 42% from deep in 14 games as a starter. In 12 games coming off the bench, he’s averaging 12.7 points and shooting 28.6% from deep. It has been tough for him to find a rhythm in his minutes coming off the bench.
“Yeah, finding a rhythm, not forcing it,” Oubre added. “You’re coming off the bench, so it’s like guys are warm … and you’re guarding them and you’re cold. It’s just a mental shift.”
The biggest thing with Oubre now is to just continue finding that rhythm. It is not something he would like, but he has shown he’s a team player thus far and he wants to do everything he can to help the Sixers win.
“I’ve done it before, yeah,” Oubre added of coming off the bench before. “It’s not ideal, but I’m here to win and here to help this team win — so whatever I’ve got to do.”
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