PHILADELPHIA — For the Philadelphia 76ers to stay afloat the way they have without Joel Embiid, they needed solid play out of Kelly Oubre Jr.
The athletic veteran out of Kansas has played well of late, averaging 20.7 points and 6.2 rebounds while shooting 42.4% from the floor over his past nine games. He’s only shooting 26.5% from deep over that time, but he is finding ways to put the ball in the basket and the Sixers can rely on him.
“Just being aggressive, man,” Oubre said. “Continuing to stay confident moving on next play, next play, but also just finding guys. I’ve been finding guys a lot more because I see the energy that I attract whenever I attack the paint so just kicking out, but also letting the game come to me and not forcing anything.”
During that nine-game span, Oubre is averaging 2.1 assists per game, which is above the 1.4 assists he’s averaging on the season. He has been a willing passer on the offensive end and is taking smarter shots that allow Philadelphia to find a rhythm on that end of the floor. That allows everybody to be on the same page.
As far as the defense goes, Oubre has been terrific. He has great instincts and he uses his length and defensive acumen to be a reliable player on that end. He had five blocks in Monday’s win over the Miami Heat.
“Timing and not fouling as much and just trying to be in the right spots,” Oubre explained. “A lot of times, I’m a good on-ball defender, but helping and being off of the best players on the other team and that kind of is where I lapse at so I’m just trying to be focused and be there for my guys no matter what. If somebody gets beat, I’m there to help, but also we have to make extra efforts and it’s just effort and energy. That’s all defense is so I’m just trying to be really focused on that.”
The Sixers will need Oubre to continue being productive on both ends as they begin a four-game West Coast trip beginning on Wednesday against the Phoenix Suns.
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