76ers vs. Lakers: De’Anthony Melton Gets Showered With Praise

After a big night, 76ers guard De'Anthony Melton received a ton of praise from his head coach and teammates.

A near fourth-quarter collapse in South Philly couldn’t spoil De’Anthony Melton’s career-best night on Friday night. 

As the Philadelphia 76ers established that Melton had the hot hand early on in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers, they kept feeding the guard.

Melton scored just six points in the first half of Friday’s game. Then in the third quarter, he produced 16 points, dropping all six of his shots, with four coming from beyond the arc. 

Then between the fourth quarter and the lone overtime period, Melton put up 11 points to help the Sixers put the Lakers away 133-122.

“[In the] second half, we found him,” said Sixers forward Tobias Harris. “He got great looks and outside of the offense, which was spectacular, the defense by him and being able to be in passing lanes, get steals, he has great instincts, so he was amazing tonight to have a career night. We definitely don’t win that game without him.”

Sixers head coach Doc Rivers described Melton’s performance as “unbelievable,” crediting the veteran guard for being an “elite” shooter. While Melton’s career-high 33-point performance stood out the most, the guard’s ability to get deflections and steals on the defensive end might’ve been his best quality on the floor Friday night. 

“Literally, he had half of our deflections in one basketball game, and half of his deflections had nothing to do with the play,” said Rivers. “Like he’s on the weak side, he’s just uncanny. The blocked shot was incredible, the steal, the cross-court pass where he just jumped up and caught it, I’m telling you. That’s rare, and he’s been unbelievable for us. Joel and James down the stretch and Tobias (Harris) had a stretch, but De’Anthony Melton was huge tonight for us.”

Matisse Thybulle shares a lot of defensive qualities with Melton. As the two veterans are known for making tough deflections and disrupting shooters in tough spots, Thybulle was thrilled to see Melton’s career night come together.

“Dude’s awesome,” said Thybulle. “He’s been having an amazing season, and if anyone deserves a night like this, he does. He works really hard and plays the right way. He has a great spirit, and I’m really happy for him.”

With Tyrese Maxey still recovering from his small fracture, Melton will likely continue to start for the 76ers. He might not get around 16 shots per night as he did on Friday, but Melton has proven he can impact the game in many ways outside of his shooting.

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