Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe continues to thrive in the NBA.
The Bahamian had the first game-winner of his NBA career on Thursday, and it came against fellow Bahamian Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield and the Golden State Warriors.
Edgecombe and the Philadelphia 76ers prevailed, winning 99-98 over Hield and the Warriors at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The 20-year-old NBA rookie had a respectable performance, finishing with 10 points, but none were bigger than a tip shot with 0.9 seconds on the clock to give the Sixers the thrilling win. He went after a fadeaway shot from teammate Tyrese Maxey, caught the ball in mid-air, and banked in a layup off the glass. Maxey chased down a length-of-the-court pass to De’Anthony Melton and blocked it with 0.2 left. Time ran out and the Sixers hung on after blowing an 18-point fourth quarter lead.
Edgecombe said afterwards that he was just in the right place at the right time.
The two Bahamians were facing each other for the first time as professionals. Hield and the Warriors mounted a magnificent comeback, but it fell short. As mentioned, they fell behind by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter, and were down by as many as 24 in the game, but in this era of high volume three-point shots and fast-paced basketball, hardly any lead is considered safe unless a team is up by 20-plus points late in games.
Hield was respectable as well, scoring 14 points in 25 and a half minutes off the bench. He finished 6-for-12 from the field and was 2-for-7 from three-point range. Edgecombe started and played a little less than 24 minutes. He was 4-for-8 from the field and 2-for-7 from deep.
The Warriors executed a frantic rally in the fourth quarter, and they did it without their two best player players in Stephen Curry, who is out with a left quadriceps contusion and muscle strain, and Jimmy Butler, who is sidelined with left knee soreness.
Edgecombe has cooled off a bit from a torrid start to his National Basketball Association (NBA) career, but the rookie guard is giving the Sixers strong minutes on both ends of the floor. He just returned to the court on Sunday after missing three games with left calf tightness, and his presence has taken some of the focus and pressure off Sixers’ all-star guard Maxey, and has given his team a boost. The Sixers lost a double overtime thriller to the Atlanta Hawks in Edgecombe’s first game back on Sunday, but has won two games in a row since. They travel to play the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, tonight.
As for the game on Thursday, Maxey had a game-high 35 points on 13-for-27 shooting from the field, and he was 4-for-10 from three-point range. Quentin Grimes and Joel Embiid had 12 apiece, and Edgecombe contributed 10. The other Bahamian on the team, Eric ‘EJ’ Gordon, didn’t play last night.
Pat Spencer paced the Warriors with 16 points off the bench, and Hield was one of three players with 14. Melton and Moses Moody also had 14 points for the Warriors. Quinten Post was the only other player in double figures for them with 10.
For the season, Edgecombe is averaging 14.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game, while shooting 40.9 percent from the field and 36 percent from three-point range in 35.6 minutes per game. He is fourth among rookies in scoring, tied for fourth in rebounding, second in assists and tied for second in steals.
Hield has played all 23 games for the Warriors this season. The 32-year-old veteran guard is averaging 7.5 points, 2.0 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game, while shooting 39.5 percent from the field and a career-low 30 percent from three-point range. The 10-year NBA veteran is logging 18 minutes per game off the bench this season.
Bahamian DeAndre Ayton and the Los Angeles Lakers were also in action last night, taking on the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
They also had a thrilling finish as the Lakers won, 123-120, on a buzzer-beating three-point shot from Rui Hachimura on an assist from LeBron James, who had an NBA record of 1,297 consecutive double-digit regular-season scoring efforts come to an end. James finished with eight points on 4-for-17 shooting from the field and was 0-for-5 from three-point range, but had 11 assists, including one on the game-winner, and added six rebounds.
The Lakers played without superstar guard Luka Dončić, who is in his home country of Slovenia with his fiancée for the birth of their second child.
Ayton, who missed a game last week with a right knee contusion, had a strong performance on Thursday, powering in 17 points on 8-for-11 shooting from the field, and he added eight rebounds. Austin Reaves had a game-high 44 points on 13-for-21 shooting from the field, 5-for-11 from deep, Ayton dropped in 17, Jake LaRavia had 14 off the bench, and Hachimura and Nick Smith Jr. dropped in 12 apiece.
This is the only season in Ayton’s eight-year career in which he is not averaging a double-double. The 27-year-old starting center of the Lakers is at 15.8 points and 8.6 rebounds while shooting a career-high 71.2 percent from the field. He has started 18 games for the Lakers and is playing 29.4 minutes per night.
Ayton is second in the league in field goal percentage behind Rudy Gobert of the Minnesota Timberwolves, who is shooting 73.8 percent from the field.
Edgecombe and the Sixers are back in action tonight, taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That game gets underway at 8 p.m.
Hield and the Warriors will be in action on Saturday, facing the Cleveland Cavaliers at Rocket Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. That game starts at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
Ayton and the Lakers face the Boston Celtics at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts, tonight. That game gets underway at 7 p.m.
Edgecombe and the Sixers have a 12-9 win/loss record and are seventh in the Eastern Conference of the NBA. Hield and the Warriors are 11-12 and are eighth in the Western Conference of the NBA. Ayton and the Lakers are second in the west with a 16-5 record.