VJ Edgecombe’s ‘Lackluster’ Game vs Celtics Gets an Explanation

“That to me is more like something you have to learn,” Nurse explained after the game. “Things move really fast in this league, and you have to be able to get yourself ready to go physically, mentally, etc.”

The Sixers’ Friday night battle with the Celtics resembled their previous outing against the Washington Wizards. A slow start led to a deep hole being dug. When it seemed the 76ers might be ready to pack it in and take on a loss, they fought back and fought hard to eventually make it a game.

Edgecombe didn’t have an early impact versus Washington. He finished that game with 14 points in 40 minutes, which marked a season-low for him.

Friday’s game was another case of Sixers playing comeback kids, except for this time around, they didn’t finish the game on top. Edgecombe finished the first half with seven shot attempts. In the second half, he never picked it up. Although he was efficient, scoring seven points by making all but one of his shots, the rookie had just four attempts.

“He’s a young guy, he’s going to have to learn…lots to learn, all that kind of stuff,” Nurse added.

It’s not out of the ordinary for a young guy to fade into the background when he’s sharing the court with All-Stars. Tyrese Maxey and Jared McCain went through the same thing when they were rookies. Edgecombe will have to figure out what he can do to help himself get his looks, but the Sixers have some tweaks to make as well.

“We didn’t get into enough of the spread-type offense, and give him enough chances to… When he did score, it was usually off a little bit of a kickback— boom, there he was downhill. We just didn’t do that enough, probably.”

Edgecombe finished Friday’s action with 17 points. He also tacked on five rebounds and dished out five assists. The Sixers suffered their first loss of the year, falling short 109-108. They’ll be back in action on Sunday to face the Brooklyn Nets on the road.