VJ Edgecombe and Justin Edwards have career nights and other things we leaned in Sixers\u2019 win at the Kings<\/a><\/p>\nEdgecombe referenced that 30-point benchmark during his Sunday postgame media session, acknowledging, \u201cI ain\u2019t got my 30 since the first game.\u201d He said gunning for that point total was not on his mind Thursday. In fact, Egdecombe immediately graded his performance against the Kings as a modest six out of 10, saying, \u201cI feel like I can be better.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s aspects where I know I can be better,\u201d Edgecombe added. \u201cPeople are like, \u2018Give yourself grace, being a rookie,\u2019 and all that. But, nah, I want what\u2019s best for me.\u201d <\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s circumstances \u2014 practically in the middle of the night in Philly, against a Kings team that has no interest in winning down the stretch of the regular season \u2014 certainly did not compare to Edgecombe\u2019s dazzling opening night in Boston. Yet it was another step in the rookie\u2019s heightened role as a scorer and offensive orchestrator without the All-Star point guard Maxey. In recent days, Edgecombe has talked about facing double teams for the first time in his basketball life, as well as being guarded by players who have made an All-Defensive team such as Jrue Holiday and Toumani Camara. <\/p>\n
Thursday night, Edgecombe complemented that high-flying slam off Edwards\u2019 feed with a 3-of-7 mark from beyond the arc. Edgecombe appropriately read pick-and-rolls even when the Kings began to blitz defensively in the second half, Nurse said, leading to downhill attacks with the ball and kick-out passes. <\/p>\n
Edgecombe also repeatedly got to his midrange jumper. The one he hit at the end of the first quarter? He said he drilled that specific move and shot during his pregame warm-up, because Hines told him, \u201cThat\u2019s going to be open.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cEvery shot I shot tonight, I worked on,\u201d said Edgecombe, who finished 16-of-28 from the floor. \u201cThey just kept falling. … I\u2019m just trying to add to my game, so I don\u2019t have no limits.\u201d <\/p>\n
Edwards believes his confidence is \u201cback to where it used to be, honestly\u201d in the late stage of a second NBA season previously defined by inconsistent playing time. <\/p>\n
He found rhythm in a 19-point effort last Saturday against the Brooklyn Nets, then was even better in a 21-point outing against Portland the following night. Thursday\u2019s two early deep shots ignited his 13-point first quarter, which Grimes said prompted teammates to encourage Edwards to continue shooting. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s kind of the player I envision him becoming \u2014 just a really knock-down shooter,\u201d Nurse added of Edwards. \u201cHis mechanics are amazing. His work ethic\u2019s amazing. And he seems to be open.\u201d <\/p>\n
Edgecombe and Edwards anchored a terrific overall offensive showing for a Sixers team that had struggled mightily to make shots \u2014 particularly three-pointers \u2014 since Maxey went down on March 7. On Thursday, the Sixers went 17-of-36 from long range. They scored 21 points off Kings turnovers. They grabbed 17 offensive rebounds, fueling their 102 field-goal attempts. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou see guys having a good time, you kind of get excited for them,\u201d Grimes said. \u201cAnd the ball kind of tends to find energy.\u201d <\/p>\n
As the Sixers attempt to patch things together through this postseason push, a longer-term hope is that, for players such as Edwards and Edgecombe, the experience gained with increased responsibilities can also be applied in more truncated roles as teammates return. <\/p>\n
In the short term, they relished their career nights. <\/p>\n
When Edwards reached 20 points in the third quarter, teammates began asking how many more he needed to set a new career high. During Edgecombe\u2019s postgame television interview, he joked that Edwards ignored an open pass to him in order to launch the three-pointer that got him to 30. <\/p>\n
\u00bb READ MORE: Sixers fans should keep their eyes on these NBA draft prospects during March Madness<\/a><\/p>\nFor Edgecombe, a transition three-pointer from the right wing gave him his new career high of 36 points. He reached 38 by following his own missed shot. It looked like he might reach 40 when he grabbed a rebound and took it the opposite way, before an official called a foul as he attempted a crafty finish at the rim. Kings coach Doug Christie challenged the call and it was overturned, meaning Edgecombe did not get to step to the free-throw line. <\/p>\n
Nurse opted to sub Edgecombe out of the game, believing the Sixers did not \u201cneed him in the open floor getting knocked down or whatever, at that point.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cI respect it. I understand,\u201d Edgecombe said. \u201cI wasn\u2019t mad at [Nurse]. Yeah, I don\u2019t got no comment.\u201d <\/p>\n
As Sixers teammates and staffers grabbed In-N-Out burgers and French fries while departing the arena, Edgecombe wandered the hallways searching for the weight room. Even on a career night, he still needed to complete his postgame lift. <\/p>\n
Edwards also was one of the last players inside the visitors\u2019 locker room, playfully hovering behind the media scrum as Edgecombe shared that he was happier about Edwards\u2019 30 points than his own. <\/p>\n
A few minutes later, Edwards returned the praise. <\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s my dog,\u201d Edwards said of Edgecombe. \u201cAlways happy for \u2018V.\u2019 \u2026 That just shows the hard work.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO \u2014 The first indication that Justin Edwards was primed for a special night occurred in Thursday\u2019s opening…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228457,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122,103797],"class_list":["post-228456","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-vj-edgecombe-justin-edwards-career-performances-sacramento-win"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228456","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228456"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228456\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228457"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228456"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228456"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228456"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}