Sixers News: How Severe is De’Anthony Melton’s Injury?

Heading into the Thursday night matchup against the Miami Heat, the Philadelphia 76ers placed De’Anthony Melton on the injury report. Listed as questionable due to calf tightness, the Sixers reserve had an opportunity to get the night off against the Heat.

Doc Rivers and the Sixers approached the matchup with an open mind regarding Melton and his setback. If the young veteran felt fine during pregame warmups, then he would be cleared for action. Sure enough, that was the case.

With Melton getting cleared and Tyrese Maxey taking the night off due to neck stiffness, Melton collected the start alongside the veteran point guard, James Harden.

Amid the blowout loss against the Heat, Melton was ruled out for the remainder of the night before the Sixers reached the fourth quarter. Melton finished his night after playing for just 21 minutes. During that time, he drained one of his five attempts, scoring just three points.

While there wasn’t a memorable moment where Melton suffered any setbacks, the team ruled him out for the remainder of the matchup due to mild calf tightness. After the game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers addressed the setback.

“Just calf, it’s nothing serious,” said the head coach. “Again, right when it started bothering, we just took him out. It’s nothing serious.”

The Sixers are locked into the Eastern Conference’s third seed for the playoffs. With just two games left on the schedule, the Sixers are playing every scenario safe to avoid going into the postseason with any setbacks. While Melton couldn’t finish Thursday’s game, the team is confident that he’s in good shape moving forward.

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for All76ers, a Sports Illustrated channel. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.