Nick Nurse Analyzes De’Anthony Melton’s Return to Sixers vs. Pistons

Philadelphia 76ers head coach offered his thoughts on De'Anthony Melton's return to action against the Pistons.

Apr 9, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton practices | Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Prior to Tuesday night’s game at home against the Detroit Pistons, the Philadelphia 76ers rolled without De’Anthony Melton in the mix for over a month.

The last time Melton saw the court was back on February 27, when the Sixers suffered an 18-point loss on the road against the Boston Celtics.

At the time, Melton was easing his back back into the swing of things after missing a large chunk of games due to a back injury. In the matchup against the Celtics, he spent a little under nine minutes on the court before getting ruled out due to back spasms.

Melton’s back issues flared up once again, leading to a 21-game absence. Heading into the final week of the regular season, the Sixers upgraded Melton to questionable on the injury report against the Pistons. After going through his pregame warmups, the veteran guard felt fine enough to fire up a role off the bench.

So, Nick Nurse offered nearly 16 minutes of playing time for Melton.

“I thought he looked very good movement-wise,” said the head coach. “I think he was springy and quick and stuff like that.”

As soon as Melton touched the floor, he sunk a three to get his feet wet right away. It was a nice comeback moment for Melton, as he’s been battling a back injury since the start of January.

Overall, Melton was rusty, which was expected.

“He didn’t shoot the ball well, but he took all really good shots,” Nurse continued. “You would expect [that], he hasn’t played in a long time. He came back for a couple of games and if you take those two out it’s been a really long time.”

Off the bench, Melton came in and put up nine shots on Tuesday. Five of those attempts came from beyond the arc. He scored on just two of his attempts, finishing the game with five points. He also dished out three assists offensively. Defensively, Melton came down with three rebounds, and snatched two steals.

Getting back to his normal production won’t happen quickly, especially as his minutes are restricted, but Nurse was simply encouraged by how Melton looked.

“I think just movement-wise, he looked good, and that’s the main thing,” he finished. “I was kind of willing to keep him around 15 tonight, and we got just about right there or so. I thought he had steals. I thought he looked good.”