Sixers’ De’Anthony Melton feels healthy, aims to regain shooting stroke

MIAMI — De’Anthony Melton entered the 76ers’ locker room late Monday wearing the team’s Big Energy chain, complemented by sweat and heavy breathing from his postgame workout.

Sixers coach Doc Rivers had identified Melton as a player who needed the rest from the All-Star break. Now, Melton says he has “no pain-to-minimal” in his back, and has learned when to lift weights and when to get treatment while managing that issue for much of the season.

Yet Melton continues to struggle with his shot. He has connected on only 32.4% of his field-goal attempts and 30.4% of his three-pointers in the seven games since Feb. 10, and has reached double figures just once during that span. Melton also has just three total steals over those seven games, a notable dip from his season average of 1.6 per game to rank seventh in the NBA entering Wednesday.

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“I feel like I should be playing better,” Melton said following Monday’s loss to the Heat. " … They’re not asking [for] more than what I could be doing, and more than I should be doing. I’m not trippin’ about specific things. I’m just going out, do what I do. Play defense, and everything else will come.”

It’s been more than a month since Rivers moved Tyrese Maxey into a reserve role, which kept Melton in the starting group for his disruptive perimeter defense and long-range shooting. Before play resumed last week, Rivers said the staff had talked during the break about walking a fine line between finding pockets to rest Melton without affecting his rhythm.

Overall, though, Rivers said Melton is “exceeding what I thought [was] the best we could get out of him” after his acquisition in a draft-night trade with the Memphis Grizzlies last summer. Melton entered Wednesday averaging 10.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.

Grizzlies coach Taylor Jenkins raved about Melton — especially the “three-minute Melt” bursts when he came off the bench to affect a game on both ends — prior to last week’s visit to Philly. Memphis is where Melton worked extensively to develop his outside shot (his three-point percentage jumped from 28.6% in 2019-20 to 41.2% the following season) and secondary playmaking. Jenkins said he noticed all of that while Melton shouldered a more significant offensive load when Maxey and James Harden nursed foot injuries.

But Melton did not play for the Sixers down the stretch of Thursday’s comeback victory, with Rivers acknowledging “sometimes when you play against your former team, it can go one way or the other. It was going to other.” Against the Boston Celtics two nights later, Melton helped limit MVP contender Jayson Tatum to 6-of-16 from the floor before Tatum buried the game-winning three-pointer over him.

During Monday’s loss to the Heat, Melton made a three-pointer on the Sixers’ first possession but missed his other four attempts from deep. He finished 2-of-8 from the floor overall, and totaled three rebounds, one steal and two blocks in 31 minutes.

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Dewayne Dedmon will continue his wait to make his Sixers season debut, after the veteran center was again listed as out for Wednesday’s game in Miami with hip tightness.

That means Dedmon will miss both of this week’s opportunities to face his former team. He began this season with the Heat and was traded to the San Antonio Spurs and bought out. He signed with the Sixers just before the All-Star break. He averaged 5.7 points on 49.6% shooting and 3.6 rebounds in 30 games with the Heat, but fell out of the rotation prior to being moved.

Without Dedmon as an option, Paul Reed has remained the backup center behind All-Star Joel Embiid.