The Sixers followed up their first three-game losing streak of the season by winning three nationally-televised games at home. This was capped off Tuesday night with a 126-121 win over Nikola Jokic and the defending champion Denver Nuggets.
While Joel Embiid returned to the lineup this week, the Sixers’ depth continues to be a revolving door of injuries. Robert Covington, who has yet to suit up in 2024, has dealt with a nagging knee injury the entire season.
De’Anthony Melton will miss at least the next two games. The official reason from the team is lumbar spine stress response. Nick Nurse said that if the team needed Melton to suit up he probably could, but with four months of regular season basketball left to go, the Sixers are erring on the side of caution.
The team doesn’t even have the reserve wings to fill in for those guys at the moment. Jaden Springer hasn’t been able to suit up the last two games due to an ankle injury and Danuel House Jr. suffered a lower back contusion at the end of Monday’s win against the Houston Rockets. That’s already caused House to miss a game.
The Sixers have even been without Mo Bamba, who is coming off his best basketball of the season. He’s been sidelined for two games with a fat pad impingement in his right knee.
Even with the injuries, Tuesday’s game felt very much like a playoff game — a rare feeling for a midweek game in January. So, how does the Sixers’ depth hold up against the league’s very best?
Poll
How much trust do you have in Kelly Oubre Jr.?
Oubre has been Nurse’s first choice to replace Melton in the starting lineup, and the benefits of that were evident Monday against the Rockets. Oubre had four steals in the game, able to sag off his man and pick the pocket of Alperen Sengun repeatedly.
When he’s locked in, Oubre has been very good defensively this year, and his addition in the starting lineup makes that group of five a very tall, long group. Perhaps it is his bouncing in and out of the starting lineup, but Oubre hasn’t been as consistent on the offensive end of the floor since returning from his accident.
He’s shot 18% from three in his last four games, but his stretch of hero ball in the third quarter Tuesday against the Nuggets was really concerning. He missed a three which killed Philly’s momentum, allowing Denver to get back in the game.
No seriously, what the hell is a fat pad impingement. This was rough timing for Bamba, because after earning more minutes last week in Atlanta, he followed it up with another solid showing against the Sacramento Kings.