Edgecombe rises to the ‘lights’ again and makes stunning Garden debut originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
Nothing about VJ Edgecombe’s performance Friday night suggested he was amazed or overwhelmed by playing at Madison Square Garden for the first time.
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If anything, Edgecombe may have thought his debut was a little late.
“It’s crazy,” he said the day before when asked if he had ever played at the arena. “No, I didn’t. I was on the No. 1 team in New York and I didn’t get to play at MSG.”
The Long Island Lutheran High School product was everywhere you looked in the final minutes of the Sixers win 116-107 against the Knicks. His loud contributions late in the game included a pull-up through contact, a ferocious dunk and extremely stingy defense on Knicks All-Star guard Jalen Brunson.
“It was amazing, man,” Edgecombe said of his first experience at the Garden. “It was everything I expected. The fans…it was great, man. It was a good first game at the Garden, that’s for sure.”
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After starting 2 of 8 from the field, Edgecombe made 8 of his last 10 shots and tallied 23 points. The 20-year-old now has six 20-point outings in the NBA, including three in a row. He is hitting 39.3 percent from three-point range and is averaging 15.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.3 steals.
Edgecombe was happy to have Tyrese Maxey on the field with him again after his star teammate missed the last two games due to illness.
Maxey is past the point of being surprised by everything Edgecombe does in crunch time.
“That’s exactly who he is,” Maxey said after a 30-point, nine-assist night. “We realized that match 1. Yes, you can do what you’re going to do in preseason, practices and training camp, but when those lights come on, you never know. And the lights came on and he came with it.
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Time and again, Sixers head coach Nick Nurse praised Edgecombe’s anticipation, intelligence and talent. ability to do “a little bit of everything”.
His instincts seem to be sharpening with more NBA reps. Unlike many rookies, Edgecombe hasn’t been inclined to stop and think lately.
“I just try to play hard,” he said. “That’s the main thing. I want to win. I dive on the floor, I dive into the crowd. Whatever it takes to win, to be honest. I think last. I’m going to do it.”
Overall, the 15-11 Sixers looked well-rested against a 19-8 Knicks team playing its third game in four days. Even with Joel Embiid sidelined (illness, dealing with right knee injury) and Paul George going 2 of 10 from the field, the Sixers never faced a serious deficit and took the lead early in the fourth quarter.
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Many actors provided practical support to Maxey and Edgecombe.
Andre Drummond made a career-high three baseline jumpers and had a double-double of 14 points and 13 rebounds. Jared McCain scored 12 points off the bench and closed out the game deservedly. Justin Edwards made two timely 3-pointers in the second quarter, building on a big game Tuesday for the G League’s Delaware Blue Coats.
“We were really debating there,” Nurse said, “and that’s one of the things I said, ‘I’ll put him in there, man. He just scored 37 points the other night. He must be feeling good. Let’s put him in there.'”
In the end, the youngest player on the field had a stunning debut at the Garden.
He also hungers for many things during these nights.
“I know I have a lot of work to do,” Edgecombe said. “I want to be the best player of all time, so I have a lot of work to do.”
