76ers vs. Cavaliers: De’Anthony Melton’s Playing Status on Friday

After returning from the week-long break, the Philadelphia 76ers won’t get much rest before the weekend, as they are set to participate in the second matchup of a back-to-back set on Friday.

The Sixers were hoping to get a key reinforcement on Friday in the veteran guard, De’Anthony Melton.

Lately, Melton’s been battling a back injury, which has affected him on numerous occasions this year. When the Sixers rang in the new year with a matchup against the Chicago Bulls, Melton missed his first matchup in four games.

His absence would span three games before making a return on January 10. Melton appeared on the court for 36 minutes across two games upon his return. On January 15, the veteran guard was ruled out once again against the Houston Rockets.

At that point, Melton’s setback was more severe than expected. He missed all 17 games before the Sixers went into the All-Star break last week. While Nick Nurse was hoping to have Melton back for the start of the final stretch, the Sixers ruled Melton out against the New York Knicks on Thursday night.

Will Melton Face the Cavaliers?

Before Thursday’s game against New York, Nick Nurse told reporters that he expected Melton to make his anticipated return on Friday night against the Cavaliers.

As it turns out, that will be the case.

Melton will get his first set of action since the Sixers’ 19-point win over the Sacramento Kings at home on January 12. In his last outing, he struggled from the field, shooting just 22 percent while scoring six points.

This season, Melton has appeared in 33 games for Philadelphia. Picking up starts in all of his played outings, Melton averaged nearly 30 minutes of playing time during that stretch. Offensively, he’s shooting 39 percent from the field and 36 percent from deep while putting up 12 points per game and dishing out three assists per game.

Defensively, Melton accounted for four rebounds per game while snatching an average of two steals and swatting one shot per game.

The Sixers and the Cavaliers are set to battle it out at 7:30 PM ET.