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No longer on a minutes restriction, Mike Scott ‘playing with a free mind’

“Now that I feel better on my body, confident in it, you know [I can] do more stuff,” Scott said.

Sixers forward Mike Scott looks to be more aggressive coming off knee injuries that have limited his playing time this season.
Sixers forward Mike Scott looks to be more aggressive coming off knee injuries that have limited his playing time this season.Read moreYONG KIM / Staff Photographer

Mike Scott is all the way back for the 76ers.

The reserve power forward said Monday that he’s no longer on a minutes restriction for the right knee injury that sidelined him from Jan. 16 to Feb. 11. His presence will be needed off the bench, starting with Monday’s game against the Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Scott has been making hustle plays and bringing energy off the bench during the 18 to 19 minutes he’s been on the floor.

That was “something we needed, and something we also [still] need,” he said following Monday’s shootaround.

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Scott has missed a total of 17 games this season due to injuries – thirteen with right knee swelling and four with a left knee bruise.

Scott has been more of a corner three-point shooter the past two seasons. However, this season, he’s been doing more of the little things that go unnoticed in a box scores for the Sixers. He’s been content with setting screens, making the extra pass and hustle plays. The ninth-year veteran is averaging 3.9 points, 2.8 rebounds and 16.9 minutes, while shooting 33.3% in 15 games played with three starts.

“Now that I feel better on my body, confident in it, you know [I can] do more stuff,” he said. “Give yourself up instead of standing in a corner or not be active, not crashing, not cutting to the lane, not diving on the floor.

“Now just playing with a free mind, you can just do everything you want.”

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