Philadelphia 76ers rookie guard VJ Edgecombe continues to show that he is no ordinary rookie. With the Sixers needing a boost on Tuesday against the Memphis Grizzlies, Edgecombe shook off a slow start and once again showed up in the guts of the game.

After scoring only nine points through the first three quarters, Edgecombe exploded for 13 points in the fourth as he went toe-to-toe with Grizzlies star Ja Morant and put on a show for the Sixers. He then knocked down the game-winning 3 with 1.7 seconds left in overtime to lift Philadelphia to a 139-136 win in OT to end a 3-game losing skid.

“He’s kind of just like that all the time,” coach Nick Nurse told reporters after the win. “Never really see him show much emotion. I think it’s an incredible quality. I think he just plays the game, and even the other night when he didn’t shoot it very good. He played really well. You know what I mean? I don’t know what he (shot) 3-for-16, but I was like, he played really good man.”

Edgecombe has been dealing with an illness and didn’t shoot the ball well in the previous two losses to the Chicago Bulls (4-for-13) and the Oklahoma City Thunder (3-for-16), but was able to bounce back against the Grizzlies.

“I just feel like, the other night, he’s still coming out of that sickness, and just didn’t feel quite right,” Nurse added. “He just didn’t quite have the conditioning, the legs, whatever, and I figured he bounced back tonight. That was a big bounce back.”

With that being said, for a rookie to come up big in these situations constantly is impressive. Nurse drew up a guard-to-guard screen between Edgecombe and Tyrese Maxey with the game tied and his two guards delivered. It’s an impressive moment for a player so young.

“He made a lot of big ones in that game,” Nurse explained. “I think the first thing it was nice to see that those guys got a little rhythm up top there for a good stretch of the game. Just going that guard to guard screen, turned the corner a couple times, and when they put two on the ball, we kicked it back out, made the right read, and that’s all it turned into.”

One has to give credit to Maxey for making the right play when being doubled by the Grizzlies down the stretch as well. That’s a big moment.

“Tyrese just making the right read, and they probably made the right decision, putting two on Tyrese so he couldn’t explode down the lane, but he made the right play,” Nurse finished. “But it’s a big shot. Big Shot. Obviously, a game winner for rookie is pretty cool.”