76ers Injury Report: What’s going on with De’Anthony Melton?

 

Tipping off a new weekly slate of games, the Philadelphia 76ers hosted the San Antonio Spurs for the first and only time this season on Monday night.

Once again, the Sixers missed a handful of players as their injury report was crowded heading into the matchup.

Among the players listed was the veteran guard De’Anthony Melton.

Lately, Melton’s been dealing with a back issue, which has sidelined him for a stretch on two different occasions. When the Sixers took on the Chicago Bulls on December 30, Melton collected a 26-minute shift as the Sixers came up short with a 13-point loss before the new year.

When the Sixers returned for their first game of 2024, Melton was ruled out. His absence lasted three games. On January 10, Melton returned against the Atlanta Hawks for a 21-minute showing. Two nights later, he was back on the floor for a 25-minute shift in the win over the Sacramento Kings.

After a six-point, four-rebound showing against the Kings, Melton popped up on the injury report once again. Unfortunately, he missed another stretch of matchups as he attempted to fully heal his back.

While Melton missed his fifth-straight game on Monday against the Spurs, the team’s head coach, Nick Nurse, offered a promising update on the veteran guard before Monday’s outing.

“Melt is the one that’s probably a little closer [to returning],” Nurse said, as he went over the team’s injury report. “We should get a good [evaluation] on our next practice, whenever that is Tuesday or Wednesday.”

Prior to his recent setback, Melton appeared in 33 games for Philadelphia. Unlike last season, he was a full-time starter. With a slight increase in minutes, Melton averaged 12 points, four rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game. He was draining 36 percent of his threes and averaging 39 percent from the field.