Kelly Oubre Jr.’s injury is terrible — but it could make the Sixers more resilient in the long run

The veteran was playing the best basketball of his career, and his absence forces others to step up.

Philadelphia 76ers guard Kelly Oubre Jr. will miss significant time after being struck by a car in Center City this weekend.Read moreHeather Khalifa / Staff Photographer

Published Nov. 13, 2023, 5:01 a.m. ET

The relief Nick Nurse displayed Sunday had a lot to do with Kelly Oubre Jr.’s status being better than expected.

Any worries about the small forward’s life being in jeopardy were erased as he was released from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital Saturday night and appeared, under the circumstances, to be OK on Sunday.

In what could be a strange best-case scenario, Oubre suffered a broken rib and injuries to his hip and right leg after being a victim of Saturday’s hit-and-run car accident in Center City. Oubre will be reevaluated in a week and is expected to miss considerable time.

Nic Batum moved into the starting lineup in his place during Sunday’s 137-126 victory over Indiana Pacers at the Wells Fargo Center.

The forward started alongside Tobias Harris, Joel Embiid, De’Anthony Melton, and Tyrese Maxey.

“I would imagine, we’ve been using [Robert] Covington, but [he] will probably take some of those minutes,” Nurse said. “There’s still [Furkan Korkmaz] and [Danuel House] there as well, kind of at that wing position that we can possibly see.

“And I would imagine that we’ll see all of those guys today and just see how it goes.”

The Sixers (8-1) have enough to replace Oubre.

Marcus Morris is another guy that could step in and make things happen. It will be interesting to see if Nurse will lean on him once he gets in playing shape.

The one silver lining to a traumatic injury is the Sixers will get more opportunities to evaluate players. On Sunday, Batum finished with nine points and seven rebounds while draining 3 of 5 three-pointers. Covington had three points and a steal. He played the bulk of his 15 minutes, 39 seconds in the first half. Korkmaz missed his lone shot attempt, committed a turnover and registered a steal while playing just 4:47. But House made a clutch fourth-quarter three-pointer in his only shot attempt. He finished with season-highs in points (four) and minutes (16:20).

Nurse was pleased with his new wing rotation against the Pacers (6-4).

“You know what, I think Nic certainly is a really good player, right?” he said. “Really good just in so many areas. I thought using Covington, kind of his early stint, that’s probably where he’s going to stay for a while. Solid job. I thought Furk [Korkmaz] and House did a good job.

“But I think the combination of House, [Patrick Beverley] and Paul Reed really put some toughness into the game and chased down a bunch of loose balls and made a bunch of plays.”

Korkmaz’s minutes had been slashed in the two games leading into Sunday’s matchup. After averaging 17.9 minutes during a three-game stretch, he averaged 2.5 in the last two games against the Detroit Pistons (Friday) and Boston Celtics (Wednesday).

Meanwhile, House didn’t receive any playing time in four of the past five games.

Even though they play different positions, one has to wonder how Oubre’s absence will impact Morris.

Heading into Sunday’s game, the power forward had rarely played since being acquired along with Batum, Covington, and KJ Martin from the Los Angeles Clippers in the Nov. 1 trade that sent James Harden and P.J. Tucker to L.A.

Morris’ extended opportunity to show what he can do could help the Sixers’ depth in the long run.

But for Oubre, the timing was terrible. The 6-foot-7, 203-pounder was playing the most inspired basketball of his career. The biggest difference for the ninth-year veteran was the chance to play winning basketball. Before becoming a Sixer, one could describe his play as empty calories. He would get numbers. But they weren’t really contributing to winning. This is probably the first year that Oubre is contributing to winning.

Defensively, he’s really stepped up. Oubre is guarding some of the better offensive players and he’s become a good defender. He’s also making shots, grabbing offensive rebounds and doing the little things that help teams win games, like diving on the floor for loose balls.

Last season, Oubre averaged a career-best 20.3 points per game with the Charlotte Hornets. But he wasn’t regarded around the league as a winning player. As a result, he had to settle for a one-year, $2.89 million contract with the Sixers in free agency.

But folks around the league are finally noting his winning contributions. That he will miss significant time after doing the right things to set himself up for a lucrative summer deal only makes you feel worse for Oubre.

“He comes in here and has everything grooving,” Nurse said. “I think I saw somewhere, maybe it was last night, that he’s playing the best basketball of his career. So like [it’s] really too bad that he’s kind of been on such an upward trend and probably heading for a good season.

“So it’s kind of a bummer to me for it to happen to him. The guy kind of needed a break and he was getting one and doing everything he could to give himself a break, and then to have that happen.”

Most broken ribs heal on their own within six weeks. So Oubre should be able to come back and be the same player he was before the injury.

Considering the circumstances, Nurse said Oubre appears to be doing well mentally.

“He’s got the, like, ‘I’ll be back before you know it’ type of attitude,” Nurse said. “So I think that’s a great place to start.”