PHILADELPHIA — In less than two months as an NBA player, VJ Edgecombe has used his considerable physical gifts to regularly make plays that shock. Nick Nurse refers to them as “how did he do that” moments, evident from his first days as a 76er.
But to attribute those moments to his superlative speed and bounce and athleticism undersells the headiness Edgecombe showed Thursday night in crunch time, that he’s displayed over and over already. Much as Edgecombe’s physical skillset is special, so is his knack for the heroic.
In the final 10.1 seconds against Golden State, with the 76ers trailing by one, Edgecombe did the following:
Stripped Warriors forward Quinten Post in what was originally called a foul but overturned, giving the ball back to Golden State on imminent possession.
Pilfered a Pat Spencer pass aimed at Buddy Hield, this time getting the turnover with 8.2 seconds left.
Flowed from the off wing to the opposite side of the lane to be in perfect position when former 76er De’Anthony Melton tipped Tyrese Maxey’s 16-foot bid to win the game, reading the short shot before anyone else and putting it back for the game-winner with 0.9 seconds left.
Yes, the win required 35 points from Maxey. It needed his hellacious Maxey block on Melton with two tenths remaining when Melton leaked out for Hield’s outlet pass. And it capped a 99-98 win that was closer than it should’ve been against a team playing without Jimmy Butler, Steph Curry and (for the second half) Draymond Green.
But suboptimal factors aside, Edgecombe played the hero in a moment of wondrous basketball savvy that portends so bright a future for the No. 3 overall pick in June’s draft.
“He just does a lot of things,” Maxey said of his backcourt mate. “You know he can score, know he can pass. But he does things that don’t show up in the boxscore all the time. The steal does, but he goes out there and plays hard, he’ll get an extra rebound, and he’ll tip the ball to somebody or get a deflection. So we appreciate him, because he does those things, and we know who he is as a person, as a basketball player, too.”
Edgecombe’s impact is vast. Thursday’s was a so-so offensive performance: 10 points on 4-for-8 shooting, 2-for-5 from 3-point range, plus six rebounds, five assists and three steals. He gave the Sixers a chance to win the game on the defensive end.
“Just watching basketball, honestly,” Edgecombe said of the steal. “And at the moment, I knew how much time they had to inbound the ball. I knew they had no timeouts left, knew they had to throw the ball somewhere, and everyone was just in that one little spot. And I just dove on the ball, to be honest. So it’s just more reads, reading the eyes. People tend to telegraph their pass a lot, so just trying to read the eyes.”
Edgecombe struggled on the offensive end with five turnovers, tying a season-high. His scuffles were enough that, as Spencer and the Warriors mounted a comeback from a deficit as large as 24 points, Nurse sat Edgecombe with 7:40 left for the offensive boost he hoped Jared McCain would provide.
Nurse brought Edgecombe back with 2:03 left and the Warriors up by 1.
“He wasn’t having a great night out there, I didn’t think,” Nurse said. “And that’s part of the reason we were using other guys. …
“He’s had some of these games where he just hasn’t done much, and then down the stretch, he hit a big three, get a big rebound, whatever. I just thought, let’s go back with him, and maybe he’ll make a play. But he’s got a nose for the ball. He’s got a nose for what’s going on out there.”
Edgecombe hasn’t had it all his way as a rookie. He’s struggled at times since his 34-point debut in Boston. He endured a nine-game stretch where he shot 34.1 percent from the field, including just 35.4 percent on 2-pointers. The run included a win over the Clippers in which the 76ers overcame two missed free throws from Edgecombe with 56 seconds left and a chance to ice the game.
He followed that with three games out due to calf soreness. In three games back, while the team is monitoring his minutes, Edgecombe is 10-for-24 from the field and 4-for-12 from 3-point range.
Game-to-game variance is to be expected for a 20-year-old. What isn’t a guarantee, even for a No. 3 overall pick that the 76ers spent a season in basketball purgatory to maintain, are the flashes of brilliance.
“A rookie is not going to play great all the time,” Nurse said. “He’s going to have some real highs and some real lows, and sometimes all within the same game. I just think we put him in there and just understanding that he’s got an ability to make a variety of plays: A blocked shot, rebound, put-back bucket, three. He can make a variety of plays. And we’re going to stay with that.”
When the 76ers selected Edgecombe, with the whole draft ahead of them after a preordained top 2, they touted his mentality as much as the physical traits he brought with him from Baylor and the Bahamas. From his first practices, he showed a desire to improve and a passion for reviving the culture of the 76ers.
Barely 20 games into his professional career, he’s showing himself to be a game-winner.
“I just want to win,” Edgecombe said. “Whatever it takes for me to do that, I’ll do it, to be honest. I don’t care. I don’t care about nothing else. If they need me to make a shot, I’ll make the shot. If they need me to grab a rebound, I’ll grab a rebound, get a steal, get a stop. I’ll do whatever it takes to win, because winning feels great. And losing doesn’t.”