Bahamian Valdez ‘VJ’ Edgecombe Jr. and the Philadelphia 76ers are headed to a game seven with the Boston Celtics.
The 20-year-old Bahamian rookie sensation once again had a reduced number of shots, compared to what he was throwing up earlier in the series, but Philly stars came out to play, and their defense stifled the number two seeded Celtics.
The Sixers won 106-93 at Xfinity Mobile Arena in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, evening the National Basketball Association’s (NBA) best-of-seven first-round playoff series at three games apiece.
Edgecombe finished with 14 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and added eight rebounds, three assists and two blocks. He struggled from three-point range, hitting just one of six three-point attempts, but his defense on Celtics’ all-star guard Jaylen Brown was top notch, and he had a highlight breakaway dunk in the second quarter which gave the Sixers momentum, and kind of changed the trajectory of the game.
Edgecombe’s one-handed jam allowed Philly to reclaim the lead, 28-27, with 9:15 remaining in the first half. The Celtics went up again, 29-28, but that would be the last time they would lead in the game.
Philly turned a 23-20 deficit after the first quarter into a 58-49 lead at the half. They really pulled away from the bewildered Celtics in the third quarter, leading by as much as 21 points, and taking an 82-63 lead at the end of three quarters.
Philly led by as much as 23 points in the fourth quarter before the Celtics mounted a comeback, but it was too little too late for them. The Celtics failed to get to within single digits the rest of the way.
The Sixers were more efficient than the Celtics on Thursday night. They shot 39-for-89 from the field and were 11-for-33 from three-point range. The C’s finished 36-for-86 from the field and were just 12-for-41 from three-point range.
The Celtics, who came into the game averaging a playoff-best 16.8 three-pointers per game were held to just 11 in game five on Tuesday and 12 in game six on Thursday, both losses. They have been living and dying by the three-point shot in the series, which now switches back to Boston for game seven.
All-star guard Tyrese Maxey paced the Sixers with 30 points on Thursday, shooting 11-for-22 from the field and he was 3-for-5 from three-point range. Paul George added 23 points on 8-for-17 shooting from the field and 5-for-9 from three-point range. Three games back from an emergency appendectomy, Joel Embiid scored 19 points and contributed 10 rebounds.
Brown, who was a league Most Valuable Player (MVP) candidate for much of the season, had 18 points for the Celtics, but shot just 7-for-17 from the field and 2-for-6 from three-point range. Jayson Tatum added 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field, 2-for-6 from three-point range.
In addition to their three-point shooting woes, the Celtics once again struggled from the free throw line. They were just 9-for-16 from the line compared to 17-for-19 for Philly. In game five on Tuesday, the C’s were just 14-for-23 from the free throw line compared to 20-for-23 for the Sixers.
Game seven is set for Saturday at TD Garden in Boston, Massachusetts.
Edgecombe is now averaging 13.8 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.2 steals while shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 26.3 percent from long range in his first NBA postseason.
Meanwhile, almost sitting for almost the entire series, playing just garbage time in game five on Tuesday, Chavano ‘Buddy’ Hield once again played insignificant minutes for the Atlanta Hawks in their first-round matchup against the New York Knicks on Thursday.
Hield scored five points in about four minutes on Tuesday and five in about nine minutes on Thursday — both blowout losses for the Hawks and they dropped the NBA Eastern Conference best-of-seven first-round series four games to two.
The Hawks dropped the final two games of the series, losing 126-97 on Tuesday and 140-89 on Thursday. They were behind by 25 points at the end of the first quarter on Thursday, 40-15, and down 47 points at the half, 83-36. The Hawks trailed by as much as 61 points in the truly lopsided affair.
Hield was efficient in limited minutes, finishing 2-for-3 on Tuesday including knocking down his only three-point attempt and 2-for-2 on Thursday, again knocking down his only three-point attempt.
The other Bahamian in the NBA playoffs, DeAndre Ayton and the Los Angeles Lakers are headed to game six with the Houston Rockets.
Ayton had a strong game on Wednesday, scoring 18 points on 9-for-14 shooting from the field and pulling down 17 rebounds, but the Lakers lost 99-93 at crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, California. The Lakers is trying to avoid being the first team in NBA history to blow a 3-0 lead in a best-of-seven series.
Game Six is set for tonight at 9:30 p.m. at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas, and if necessary, game seven will be back in Los Angeles, on Sunday.
Ayton is averaging 12.8 points and 9.8 rebounds per game while shooting 63.8 percent from the field in the series.
