VJ Edgecombe drops 30 in Boston, Sixers head back to Philly tied 1-1 with the Celtics
VJ Edgecombe. Thank you. The Sixers went back into TD Garden on Tuesday night, 48 hours after getting embarrassed by 32 points, and beat the Celtics 111-97 to even the series at 1-1.
Same building. Same opponent. Completely different team. That’s the response you needed to see and the Sixers delivered it in the most emphatic way possible.
VJ Edgecombe was the best player on the floor and it wasn’t particularly close. Thirty points. Ten rebounds. Four threes. In his second career playoff game at 20 years old.
Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and nine assists. Paul George scored 19. The defense locked in after a shaky start.
The Sixers are heading home to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday night with this series dead even. Without Joel Embiid. Against the two seed. In Boston. Twice.
VJ Edgecombe: 30 PTS | 10 REB | 2 STL
VJ Edgecombe Refused to Let This Game Slip Away
The kid fell hard on his back in the first quarter chasing a defensive rebound and limped off to the locker room. The building got quiet for a second. Everyone watching at home held their breath and then two minutes later he was on the exercise bike.
Then VJ Edgecombe checked back in with seven seconds left in the quarter. Then he went out in the second quarter and put up one of the most dominant stretches of basketball any Sixers rookie has ever played.
Twenty points and seven rebounds at halftime. He topped both teams in both categories. He chased down offensive rebounds against guys who have four inches on him.
VJ Edgecombe hit four threes after starting the series 0-for-everything from deep. He sliced through the Celtics defense for a fast-break dunk that sent the Sixers bench into a frenzy. He hit a pull-up jumper from the left wing to push the lead to eight going into halftime.
Then he limped off again in the third quarter. Then he came back again. Then he hit another pull-up three to push the lead back to six when Boston was threatening. The Celtics could not get rid of this kid no matter what they did.
VJ Edgecombe just kept coming back, kept scoring, kept rebounding, and kept playing like a guy who has absolutely no concept of what he’s not supposed to be able to do at this stage of his career.
The kid is a star
The Three-Point Shooting Completely Flipped
After going 4-for-23 from three in the Game 1 disaster, the Sixers started Game 2 by missing their first six attempts. The Celtics scored the first 15 three-point points of the game. Boston went on a 16-0 run and led 26-13. It felt like Game 1 all over again.
And then something clicked. After that 0-for-6 start, the Sixers made 11 of their next 14 threes. Eleven of fourteen. Meanwhile the Celtics went ice cold and finished 13-for-50 from the floor at 26 percent.
That’s a complete reversal from Game 1 in every way imaginable. George hit threes. Grimes hit threes. Drummond hit a corner three. Edgecombe hit four of them.
Maxey canned back-to-back pull-up threes in the fourth quarter when the Celtics had cut it to 91-90 and the game was hanging in the balance. That’s a star making star plays when it matters most.
The Bench Actually Showed Up
Quentin Grimes was a completely different player from Game 1. He knocked down threes, played tough defense, and swatted a Payton Pritchard jumper.
Justin Edwards logged 22 minutes off the bench and did the job too. He beat the shot clock with a clutch three in the fourth quarter, blocked a Jaylen Brown jumper, scrapped for rebounds, and did all the dirty work the Sixers needed from their lone bench wing.
Drummond was solid again with his corner three and a baseline push shot that gave the Sixers the lead in the second quarter.
The three-man bench from the play-in game is gone. Edwards proved Tuesday night that he belongs in this rotation and the Sixers are better for it.
Game 3 Friday Night in South Philly
The series shifts to Philadelphia for Game 3 on Friday night and the building is going to be absolutely electric. The Sixers just went into Boston and split the first two games without Embiid.
Joel Embiid started his strength and conditioning program earlier this week. The timeline for a Game 3 return is tight but it’s not impossible.
Even without him, this team just proved it can beat the Celtics in their own building when the effort and the shooting are there.
Jaylen Brown had 36 points on Tuesday. Tatum had 19, 14, and 9. The Celtics are not going away. This series is going to be a war but the Sixers showed something Tuesday night that they haven’t shown in a long time against Boston.
They showed that they’re not afraid. They showed that when they get punched in the mouth, they can punch back harder and they showed that VJ Edgecombe might be the most fearless player in this entire series.
Game 3. Friday. South Philly. Let’s ride.
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