The shot, a three-pointer from the right wing, looked like nine of the first 10 VJ Edgecombe attempted Tuesday night.
Which is to say, it appeared to have no shot at all.
“It hit back rim,” the Sixers’ rookie said. “I was like, ‘Ahhh.’”
Then the ball bounced high in the air.
“I was like, ‘OK, maybe it has a chance,’” he said.
It did, splashing through the net to give the Sixers a 100-96 lead over Boston with 2:20 left in the game. They would go on to win, 102-100, on a stick-back by Kelly Oubre Jr. in the closing
seconds. It was the third nail-biter in as many meetings between the two teams to date — they had traded one-point decisions before Tuesday — and the seventh of 11 Sixers games this season that has been decided by five points or fewer.
“I just kind of think this is going to be what it’s like … up 10, down 10, see you at the end, right?” coach Nick Nurse said.
The Sixers are far from a great team, and they were again flat out awful in the third quarter, a troubling tendency. But they compete, and it is clear Edgecombe, the third overall pick last summer, is going to be right in the middle of things, no matter his offensive output — that regardless of how his shot might look, he is among those that give them the best shot at winning.
On Tuesday Nurse had him out there for the final 13:45, and Edgecombe joined Justin Edwards — he of the 8-for-9, 22-point night — as the only Sixers to play the entire fourth quarter. So while Edgecombe went 2-for-11 and managed six points, the fewest of his fledgling rookie season, he was plus-10. That equaled Andre Drummond for the second-best mark on the team, behind Edwards’ plus-12. (Standard plus-minus disclaimers apply.)
“I super believe in him,” Nurse said of the rookie, citing his poise, mistake-free play and sticky defense.
Edgecombe memorably poured in 34 points, a first-game high for a Sixers rookie, in the season-opening 117-116 victory in Boston, then managed an efficient 17 when the C’s won 109-108 in Philadelphia on Oct. 31. But the last five games have seen a regression to the mean. Including Tuesday, he is averaging 9.4 points a game over that span, while shooting 27.9 percent from the floor (17-for-61) and 25 percent from the arc (5-for-20).
He acknowledged that it’s been “a rough couple of games,” but is undeterred.
“I’m gonna continue shooting the ball,” he said. “If I’m wide open, if it’s the right shot, I’m gonna shoot the ball.”
He’s 20, remember. Doesn’t turn 21 until next July.
Twenty going on 35, it seems.
“It’s not weighing on me,” he said of his recent struggles. “And why I say it’s not is because it’s an 82-game season. They’re not gonna remember. Nobody will remember these games early, you know? I’m a rookie, man, and I’ve got to give myself some grace.”
And so he does.
“I just keep being aggressive and keep playing with joy, man,” he said. “I told Jared (McCain) if I’m not smiling, it’s gonna be a long night. So I just try to bring energy, try to do something different to impact the game.”
The Sixers led by 12 at one point in the first half, and were up 51-41 at halftime. But Boston outscored them 36-20 in the third, continuing a trend that puzzles Nurse to no end.
“Maybe,” he suggested, “we’ll just do halftime down on the bench.”
The Sixers were down only 77-71 after three, thanks to Quentin Grimes’ buzzer-beating halfcourt heave, but the Celtics pushed their lead to eight early in the fourth. Edwards connected from deep, and on the next Boston possession Jaylen Brown attacked the glass.
Edgecombe was waiting.
Never mind that he is 6-foot-4, two inches shorter than Brown. The rookie denied the dunk attempt of the four-time All-Star at the rim, then collected the loose ball, raced to the other end and teed up Edwards for the second of three triples he nailed in a one-minute, 18-second span.
“I was like, I just hope I don’t get dunked on,” Edgecombe said. “Just wanted to change the shot. … I got a piece of it.”
Other than instances like that, his feet seem firmly planted on the ground.
“Shots haven’t been falling for the past couple nights,” he said, “but I can’t let that determine the rest of my season. … I just want to make winning plays, to be honest.”
His shot figures to come around — as he put it, he is “due for a game, just to get back on track” — but even when it goes on hiatus, it’s clear he gives his team as good a shot at victory as anyone. That the bounces will continue to go his way, and he will continue to make super believers of everyone around him.
