For the second straight night, VJ Edgecombe did it for the Philadelphia 76ers. He knocked down yet another clutch shot to add to his resume as he continues to grow as a player in this league.
After knocking down a huge 3 late to hold off the New York Knicks on Friday night, Edgecombe did it again in Saturday's 109-104 win over the Charlotte Hornets. Edgecombe went to work against Hornets wing Grayson Allen, rocked him to sleep, and then stepped back and drilled a clutch 3 with 36.2 seconds left to put the Sixers up 105-101.
He didn't shoot the ball well, but Edgecombe stepped up in a big way, once again, to help the Sixers get the job done.
"I owed the team that," Edgecombe told reporters in Charlotte after the win. "I mean, I was having a rough
game. Everything was short, missing a lot."
Give the Hornets credit. They did everything right in an effort to slow down the explosive guard. They were physical with him and were able to force him into some difficult looks. Edgecombe shot just 4-for-13 on the night, but that final look was the biggest shot of the night as he gave the Sixers some breathing room and allowed them to make things happen with the game on the line.
"He’s done quite a bit of that in his short career," added coach Nick Nurse to reporters. "Obviously, two in a row that were huge. And again, he's really rebounding the basketball, flying in and grabbing those, and he really worked hard at the defensive end. Not a rest of the game very spectacular for him from the field. He didn't have a ton of great looks, I didn't think, but he made some aggressive drives and kind of didn't get back to good balance going down the left side of the lane. Would have probably helped his game a little bit, but I don't know what more you can say about the rebounding and the big shots."
When one watches the play, Edgecombe was very clearly trying to get rid of the ball. Tyrese Maxey wasn't having it. He and the rest of the Sixers were telling him to go make a play. Even Anfernee Simons on the other side of the floor was pointing and telling the young guard to go make a play.
"I was trying to get the ball back to Tyrese," Edgecombe laughed. "I'll be honest because I wasn't making. I wasn't making, but like I said the team trusts me. They trust me in the clutch, and obviously I trust myself. So, I looked at Reese, and he was like, ‘Go.’ That's when I just went."
The Sixers will now move on to play host to the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: VJ Edgecombe, Sixers react to latest big shot in road win over Hornets
