Six Thoughts: Edgecombe Laces Dagger to Give Sixers Victory Over Grizzlies

The Sixers can finally put a victory on tape for the trio of Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Paul George with a thriller in Memphis on Tuesday night. Embiid played a season-high 38 minutes and looked as good as he has at any point this season. Maxey went for 34 points and 12 assists without committing a turnover. George struggled mightily on offense, but VJ Edgecombe erased all regrets with a dagger three to beat the Grizzlies in overtime.

Here are six thoughts on the game.

Embiid draws you back in

On the day that we released our deep-dive into the statistics behind whether the Sixers are better without Embiid, the big guy played his best two-way basketball of the season.

First of all, thank you for making us look smart.

But in all seriousness, it is very encouraging that Embiid has built himself up enough to do what he did in this game by the end of December. If you had said he was still capable of this, I would've guessed it happened late in the regular season. It will be incredibly encouraging if he is able to suit up and deliver something similar in Thursday's game in Dallas.

So, what did he actually do?

This game represented the most comfortable his jumper has looked all season, even if he's shown steady progression in his shooting touch from week to week. It was near automatic all first half, Embiid lining up rhythm jumpers from the elbows and nail over and over again. When he got his feet set, Embiid delivered two makes from three-point distance, one with his sneakers behind the line and one with his toe rubbing up against the arc for a long two.

His ability to take his counterparts off the bounce for physical drives is bred from his combination of strength and guard skills. He attacked Christian Koloko, Jock Landale and Jaren Jackson Jr. straight on, applying his force into their chests and pushing them off their spots to get to the rim.

Many of Embiid's games this season have come against teams that don't have bigs with impressive resumes. Zach Edey was not available for Memphis, but Jackson Jr. is a perennial Defensive Player of the Year candidate. As the game went on, Embiid maintained his motor, sticking a couple of jumpers over Jackson as overtime ticked down to the final seconds of the game.

It wasn't just the scoring. Embiid made great passing reads to cutting teammates when Memphis shaded toward him or sent hard double-teams. The chemistry is still a work in progress. There was a pass that Embiid obliged, but Dominick Barlow was a little late to read the cut. He got there and earned a dunk, but Barlow has to see that opening sooner.

On the other end of the court, Embiid made things messy. It wasn't his most impressive display of rebounding by any means, but he made Memphis fight to bring the ball down on misses. His rim protection is quickly improving as he gets more comfortable jumping. In this game, he rotated from the weak side of the rim to spike a shot from Jaylen Wells into the stands.

Again, a work in progress. He had very little for Ja Morant, who was able to mix up speeds and blow by Embiid for nifty scores at the rim. But you can see Embiid taking swipes at balls in the mid-range now. He wasn't even lifting out of coverage to contest those a month ago.

His conditioning is maybe the best it's been all season. He attempted two dunks in this game. One on a dump-off pass from Maxey that Jackson fouled him on at the rim. The other a pass off the backboard to himself on the step-through. Neither went down, but he popped in ways that he hasn't all season. And best of all, he got up to tell the tale instead of injuring himself. The conditioning might've had some dips as the game carried into the extra session, but he saved himself for big moments. There was one Sixers possession in which Embiid stayed in the battle against a couple of Memphis defenders to tip the ball up, gather it and go up strong. After a series of misses in the chaos, Embiid went up strong and finished the battle for a score.

Excellent to see.

The two-man game shines

When Embiid gets going from the mid-range, the two-man game opens up much easier for him and Maxey. He's in rhythm and moving well, and Maxey knows it and feeds it. Some of the Sixers' best moments in this game featured the two of them playing off each other, Embiid quickly passing the ball out in front for Maxey to chase into his own attack or the big guy following the pass into a pick-and-pop to the foul line for his preferred jumpers.

Eventually, the duo was too potent to not just ride out. The Sixers were coming down the floor over and over and running that action while the three other guys spaced the floor. It wasn't just Embiid finishing off the possession. The Sixers' star duo scored 34 points each. Embiid did his part to share, staying in the action long enough to set hard picks for Maxey to create separation.

Being a real screen-setter supports Embiid just as much as it frees Maxey. The guard's speed draws the big onto the ball to thwart dribble penetration while the guard fights through Embiid. And if Maxey is patient enough, the big and his regular assignment are converging on the ball, leaving Embiid open in space to catch if Maxey tosses the rock back to him. The two-on-one creates a good shot for Embiid, or it's creating a shot for someone else when a helper rotates to tag Embiid.

Embiid's screen-setting gave Maxey open looks at threes and driving lanes to exploit all game long. They haven't eaten together much this season, the offense either see-sawing toward Embiid or toward Maxey while the other takes a clear backseat. They produced off of each other quite well in this one.

Quentin Grimes and Jared McCain are eating at this team's margins

That Grimes and McCain are so wildly inconsistent is really eating at this team's margin for error when Maxey and Embiid aren't on the court. George isn't stable enough to carry the scoring load in those lineups, and the reseve guards simply aren't making shots to contribute down the roster. When the Sixers are even with the opposition or outright winning the game, the momentum doesn't persist because Grimes and McCain just aren't making enough shots.

At least Grimes has the burst to get to the rim when his jumper isn't falling. He goes too fast to play off two feet inside and, as a result, gets wild or throws up shots that are clearly going to get blocked. To his credit, Grimes wound up having a nice game. But McCain doesn't have the burst and he's not supplementing that with shooting touch. When he was on the court in this game, Memphis had one game plan — find him in the pick-and-roll and attack.

Nurse giveth

Inserting Adem Bona to play next to Embiid was a big chess move in this game. It enhanced Philadelphia's rim protection and rebounding, cutting Memphis' offense off on the first shot and solidfying the interior against driving and cutting. The Sixers gave up 40 points in the first quarter and Memphis would've scored more had they not committed five turnovers. As soon as Nurse went with the double-big look, Memphis' offense deteriorated from drive-and-kick and to a more pick-and-roll base.

That's still a relatively fine outcome for Memphis because Morant is so crafty at the rim. He killed Philadelphia's drop coverage all night long. But he poses no threat outside of eight feet, and the Sixers forced him to make some decisions in that range instead of going all the way to the rim over and over again.

Nurse taketh away

Having said that, Nurse left Edgecombe out to sink or swim. The rookie had no chance against Morant, and there was no schematic or matchup adjustment to try to protect against that. When the Grizzlies crawled back into the game late in the fourth quarter and again late in overtime, it was Morant who attacked Edgecombe mercilessly and had his way one possession after another. The Sixers just gave Edgecombe up to be devoured in isolation.

We could argue that a matchup adjustment would've proved worthless because Morant could've just called Edgecombe's assignment up to set the pick and then there'd be a switch or drop coverage to open things up for the Grizzlies guard. But you can certainly change your scheme when it's evident Edgecombe is getting burned.

Edgecombe saves the day

Still, the rookie remained resilient through a firm toasting on defense. And when the game was on the line, Edgecombe bailed Nurse out for his lack of additional chess moves, Embiid out for a horrible hook shot on the penultimate possession of the game and Maxey out for an extremely ill-advised mid-range jumper late in regulation.

Edgecombe came up to screen for Maxey late in overtime, drawing Wells and Morant to the ball before flaring out to the opposite wing. Maxey fed the rookie, who confidently lined up and knocked down a game-winning three with one second left.

It's important to contextualize the things Edgecombe is doing as a shooter. His off-the-dribble game comes and goes. But his catch-and-shoot three has been nails all season, and it comes alive in crunch time. This was a guy who was asked to make some mechanical changes after being drafted third overall. He's done that and worked to make the motion consistent and repeatable. Edgecombe is taking that catch-and-shoot three without hesitation. Edgecombe's jumper had been a little short in his return from illness. But he got all the power back in this game. Five triples in this game, four of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime.

But it wasn't just his shooting that was impressive. He didn't fall in love with the three at the expense of seeing driving opportunities. He attacked hard and made some unbelievable shots at the rim. He and fellow rookie sensation Cedric Coward went back and forth, providing yet another example of how awesome this rookie class is. In the end, though, it was Edgecombe who had one left in the chamber.

Fittingly, Memphis called on Coward to try to send the game to double overtime, but his three was just a bit short.