Sixers' Nik Stauskas remaining confident amid shooting woes

UNONDALE, N.Y. – Nik Stauskas finds himself in a preseason shooting funk.

The 76ers reserve 2 guard was shooting 15.8 percent heading into Wednesday's preseason against the Brooklyn Nets at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. He's made just 3 of 19 shots in the Sixers' first three preseason games.  His three-point percentage is slightly better at 16.7 (1-for-6).

However, the fourth-year veteran is far from panicking.

"I just got to keep shooting," Stauskas said before the game. "I've struggled in the preseason. Last year in the preseason, I didn't shoot the ball well. Then after the first month I was shooting like 45 [percent] from three.

"So it comes and goes. I'm not too worried about it."

He'll tell you the key is being confident when his opportunities come. He  knows his next shot is the most important one. That's why Stauskas doesn't think about the number of shots he missed in any previous games.

"That's really just the main thing," he said. "It's more mental than it is anything. I feel in practice, I have been shooting the ball well.

"So it's just about going out there and being confident."

However, there's a lot of competition on the Sixers this season to get minutes and/or make the team. But Stauskas says he think about the competition or the pressure to make shots that comes with it.

"If you think of it that way, you are always going to make yourself nervous," he said. "I try not to put it that way. There's always going to be competition for spots or whatever.

"But shooting the ball is something I know I can do. I just got to go out there and do it."

Holmes' fracture wrist won't require surgery

The Sixers said on Sunday they'll  reevaluate Richaun Holmes' fracture left wrist in three weeks.

"But I'm trying to get back before that," the reserve center said. "I'm working hard to get back."

The third-year veteran suffered the injury late in the third quarter of Friday's preseason loss to the Boston Celtics. Holmes was fouled by Aron Baynes.

"We just kind of met at the rim," Holmes said. "He's a big guy [6-foot-10, 260 pounds]. I just fell kind of awkward. You know it happens."

Holmes said the small fracture doesn't require surgery and will heal on its own.