Kelly Oubre Jr. reacts to his return after Sixers knock off Wizards

PHILADELPHIA -- The Philadelphia 76ers welcomed back a key piece of their roster in Wednesday's 131-110 win over the Washington Wizards. After not playing since Nov. 14 due to a left knee sprain, Kelly Oubre Jr. made his return to the floor after missing 22 games.

It wasn't a pretty 20 minutes for Oubre as he shot only 1-for-4 and was clearly rusty, but the Sixers were able to get him back out on the floor and in the rotation. That is a big help for this group going forward and it was a stepping stone for the 11-year veteran to get back out there.

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"Absolutely, man," Oubre beamed after the win. "It’s been a long journey to get back out there, and it felt amazing just to even be able to just touch the court and do anything out there. So, it felt good."

It took a bit for Oubre to receive the final clearance out on the floor. He had to battle through the pain in his knee in order to work his way back out there. It all came down to how he was going to be able to overcome the hurdles to get on the floor.

"Everything the trainers and docs wanted me to do," Oubre said. "The checklist, right? I just kind of stayed locked in on their process for me, and I trusted in it, and it worked, and I feel fine. I feel amazing, actually. So, yeah, I'm just happy to get one under my belt and just continue to grow from there."

With that being said, though, Oubre was certainly tired of having to do sprints. He just wanted to get out and play real basketball at this stage of the season. It had been too long since he had played.

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"I felt good this whole time," he explained. "Like, there was no pain in my knee, but it was all about stability, strength, and all of that. After my, like, 1,000th sprint, I was so done. I just wanted to get out there and play basketball and test my wind out there on the court, but nothing is like being out there."

Oubre led a big defensive charge in the win over the Wizards. That end of the floor has always been important for him, but that is one area of the game where he wanted to really test in order to truly see where he's at in his recovery process.

"It was just guarding full court," he finished. "It was a stretch in that game where I was just picking up anybody that was bringing the ball up, which is normally what I do anyway, but I just wanted to test that and make sure everything was good. I felt good. So, I think I'm kind of back to myself. So, I'm a two way player, of course, but I let the game flow. You know how it flows."

The Sixers will begin a 3-game road trip on Friday when they take on the Orlando Magic.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Kelly Oubre Jr. reacts to his return after Sixers knock off Wizards