PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have been without the services of versatile forward Kelly Oubre Jr. since Nov. 14 when he suffered a left knee sprain in a loss to the Detroit Pistons on the road. The 11-year forward out of Kansas was in the middle of a terrific start to the season with averages of 16.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 49.7% shooting from the floor and 34.3% from deep.The Sixers announced before Thursday’s matchup with the Golden State Warriors that Oubre was re-evaluated and he is continuing to progress. He is not quite ready for a return, but he will be evaluated early next week.”Getting better each and every day,” Oubre said on Thursday. “It’s a slow process, of course. Just not playing with Mother Nature and just allowing my body to heal and take the time to do the things I need to do in order to strengthen the muscle, so every day is a new challenge, but it’s getting better and it’s going well.”Oubre then explained he suffered the injury on opening night against the Boston Celtics, but he got lucky with that one. The one he suffered in Detroit didn’t exactly go his way.”I just kinda hyperextended my knee,” Oubre explained. “I did it the first game against Boston as well, but that wasn’t obviously as bad. I did the same thing again, but this time, I just wasn’t so lucky.”Oubre is the definition of a competitor as he brings his hard hat to work every day. He is such an important piece to this team due to the variety of things he can bring to the floor from scoring to rebounding, to his improved shooting, to being a tenacious defender as well as playing different positions. He brings 100% every day and he admits he’s missing being on the floor with the Sixers.”It sucks,” he sighed. “Listen, man, I’m just trying to stay above water and keep my head above it, try to fight the depression and all of that stuff that comes with not being able to do your job and fulfill your purpose, right? So, it’s a different challenge, though, and I’m up for it. I’m up for the challenge, and I think the reward on the other side will be great just because I’m trying to take it day by day.”Taking day by day is the only thing Oubre can do for now until he can recover enough to get back on the floor. The Sixers have been piecing things together without the veteran forward as the goal and focus now is to make sure he is at his best while out on the floor. For a guy like Oubre, that can be tough, but he is doing everything he can right now to make sure he is able to keep his head in it and be helpful for Philadelphia.”Not trying to get too high or too low, but it sucks,” Oubre finished. “I wanna be out there with the guys. I wanna help each and every one of them develop. I wanna help us win and being on the sidelines, I can’t really do so. I’m just trying to take it day by day and do everything I possibly can to get back.”This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: Sixers’ Kelly Oubre Jr. gives update on left knee injury progression