Tyrese Maxey’s history with Anthony Edwards, VJ Edgecombe’s three-point routine, and more
INDIANAPOLIS — As quickly because the 76ers boarded their flight following a brutal loss on the New Orleans Pelicans, the dialog turned severe.
“What do we want to do? What team do we want to be?” All-Star level guard Tyrese Maxey recalled of the message. “…This is a defining moment in our season. It’s not make-or-break, but it’s time to go.”
What started as a woeful three-game highway journey shortly flipped right into a profitable one. The Sixers snapped a four-game skid by pulling off an impressive victory on the Minnesota Timberwolves on the second night time of a back-to-back, then took care of enterprise in opposition to the shorthanded and tanking Indiana Pacers. Joel Embiid returned from what have I called a stress reaction in his proper leg in opposition to Indiana, totaling 27 factors on 11-of-17 capturing, six rebounds, and 5 assists in an outing he stated felt “OK.”
» READ MORE: Joel Embiid returns from stress reaction in leg, the latest test in a cautious approach to managing health
Yet essentially the most encouraging improvement for the Sixers is that Maxey is formally buzzing once more, after a tough capturing begin out of the All-Star break. He totaled 39 factors and eight assists in opposition to Minnesota, attacking instantly with his pace as an alternative of overanalyzing schemes, coach Nick Nurse he stated. Maxey adopted that by practically amassing a 32-point triple-double (9 rebounds, eight assists) in three quarters of labor, which was bolstered by Embiid’s presence.
And Maxey ripped off a highlight dunk on fellow All-Star and friend Anthony Edwardssaying that play encapsulated how the Sixers “needed to let some emotions out after the last week or so.”
“Amazing mental adjustment for him,” Nurse added of Maxey following that victory in Minneapolis. “To come in and have some tough games, and then just kind of know we really need him to have a great one, and he just does it.
“He plays like that, and then all of a sudden everybody else gets lifted, too. And that’s what great players are supposed to do.”
Fueling that emerging after the New Orleans disaster, Maxey said, were “encouraging words” he obtained from household again residence, who advised him there “ain’t no chance you’re going to let your team lose five in a row.” Teammate and shut pal Trendon Watford additionally supplied some powerful love on that airplane experience, saying, “Go help your team win a game, and do whatever it takes.”
The Sixers return residence for one sport in opposition to the Miami Heat whereas hanging on to the sixth spot within the Eastern Conference standings getting into Wednesday (32-26). After that may be a marquee showdown on the Boston Celtics, who sit second within the East and are arguably the NBA’s greatest shock this season.
Until then, listed below are some snapshots from the highway journey…
Tyrese and Ant Man
Dive into the video archives belonging to the mom of Maxey’s finest pal, Chris Harris, and one would discover footage of them taking part in in opposition to Edwards as fifth-graders.
“Short, chubby, strong,” Maxey stated of Edwards again then. “And now, he’s that.”
Since then, Maxey and Edwards have coincidentally remained alongside one another throughout their journeys into NBA stardom.
They frolicked “every single day” on the McDonald’s All American Game as excessive schoolers. They each performed their one faculty basketball season within the SEC — Maxey at Kentucky, and Edwards at Georgia. They had been picks in a wierd 2020 draft, with Edwards going first total and Maxey slipping to twenty first. And earlier this month, their younger Team Stars won the All-Star tournament. Edwards was the MVP of the occasion, whereas Maxey was prominently featured as the highest American fan vote-getter.
“[He’s] a guy that I really appreciate talking to,” Maxey stated of Edwards. “I appreciate his craft. I appreciate his story. “We just kind of clicked.”
So when Maxey and Edwards confronted off Sunday, it was all aggressive love. Maxey stated that when Edwards scored on him early and talked trash, “it kind of woke me up a little bit.” Then Maxey returned the favor by jamming the ball on Edwards — a participant identified for his thunderous dunks — and gave Edwards the imply mug.
» READ MORE: Tyrese Maxey finished a highlight-reel dunk over Anthony Edwards. VJ Edgecombe was not impressed.
“I didn’t know that he was going downhill,” Edwards advised reporters after the sport. “I just ended up turning my head and I’m thinking he’s going to lay it up, and he punched it. It was a quick little dunk, too. I couldn’t even get a chance to block it.
“That’s why we play the sport. I’m not mad at that.”
‘Three-J’ Edgecombe
VJ Edgecombe he simply didn’t care — about his three-point shot, that is. If he got an open look against the Timberwolves, he let it fly.
“Thank God I wasn’t missing,” he said after the game.
The result was a career-high six makes on seven attempts, as part of a 24-point night for the Sixers’ standout rookie guard. He followed that up with a 23-point effort at Indiana, including a 2-of-4 mark from long range. Edgecombe entered Thursday shooting 36.4% on 5.7 three-point attempts per game, and has a knack for knocking down clutch deep shots (12-of-22 when a game is within five points with five minutes or less remaining).
“That’s a really great attitude to have,” Nurse said of Edgecombe’s “doesn’t care” approach. “That’s what he ought to do. Take rhythm pictures. Take bailout ones once we want him on the finish of the shot clock.”
That combination of confidence and results continues to make Edgecombe’s shooting — the biggest knock against his game before being drafted third overall — a pleasant surprise.
» READ MORE: VJ Edgecombe’s athleticism is electric. But his basketball IQ is driving the Sixers rookie’s early success.
He shot 34% on 4.6 attempts during his one season at Baylor, although coach Scott Drew said that mark improved with a midseason form adjustment. Nurse called Edgecombe’s mechanics “pretty good” during the predraft process. And Edgecombe ignored such critics.
“The people saying I couldn’t shoot,” Edgecombe told The Inquirer from the locker room in Minneapolis, “are the people who aren’t playing basketball.”
Edgecombe credits the “countless reps” put in with assistant coach Rico Hines, from the summer until now. They achieved a higher arc on their shot. Now, he is working on making his release quicker and getting more comfortable launching off the dribble.
If minor details — such as the ball pickup before shooting — do not feel right, Edgecombe will repeat the repetition. They continue to drill “until I like the make, for real.”
When does that occur?
“All net,” he stated. “Like a swish.”
Bona’s burst
Plus-minus is considered to be a flawed or incomplete stat. But reserve center Adem Bona was a plus-27 in less than 15 minutes against the Pacers, an insane metric that matched the eye test that identified the performance as one of his best of the season.
Bona made an across-the-box-score impact, with six points on 3-of-3 shooting, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. He was in the middle — literally and figuratively — of the Sixers’ second-quarter run to flip an eight-point deficit into a double-digit advantage, and the second-half surge to extend the lead to as many as 28 points.
“I just do what I do,” he stated. “…Inject energy to the team, communicate, and just anchor the defense.
“I realized [my plus-minus] after the game. But that’s my goal whenever I step on the floor, to impact the team positively.”
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Small-ball Barlow?
The Timberwolves entered Sunday’s undersized game, with Rudy Gobert and Naz Reid both out. And when fill-in starter Joan Beringer got into foul trouble, Minnesota went small and then “super small,” as Nurse described.
The Sixers countered at the end of the first half with a three-guard lineup, plus the 6-foot-9 Dominick Barlow at center. Barlow also played that position for a stretch in New Orleans the previous night.
Barlow said Saturday that he still has not practiced at that spot much throughout this season, while elevating himself to a starting forward spot and having his two-way contract converted to a standard deal earlier this month. But Nurse sees potential for Barlow to be an offensive “hub” in the middle, because of his ability to handle the ball, roll, and back cut in the middle of the floor.
“I kind of just figured it out,” Barlow said, “and try to have that approach to whatever position I’m playing.”
An off-day routine
The friendship between Nurse and Minnesota coach Chris Finch, who both cut their teeth in the British Basketball League and the NBA D-League (now G League), remains a popular topic whenever their teams match up. When asked Sunday if he spends more time watching Timberwolves games, Nurse acknowledged Finch’s team “probably gets double time, just to see what’s going on.”
So what es Nurse’s game-watching routine on nights the Sixers do not play?
He generally focuses on whichever teams the Sixers will face in the near future. He will keep track of other scores on an iPad. And when he notices another game is close in the final three minutes, he will flip over to catch the end.
» READ MORE: Quentin Grimes vows to stay in ‘attack mode’ for Sixers after breakout performance
Peanut butter & jelly time
Ace veteran guard Kyle Lowry grabbed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich from the visitors’ locker room before Tuesday’s game in Indiana, teammate Cameron Payne asked for one, too. Lowry then complimented the bread, calling it perhaps the best he has had this season.
That meal so often associated with childhood is wildly popular across professional sports, either in traditional form or as a Smucker’s Uncrustable. So popular that ESPN published a 2017 feature on PB&J, calling the sandwich “the NBA’s secret addiction.”
But a question must accompany this culinary choice: Grape or strawberry jelly?
Payne and Barlow, who was sitting close by through the alternate, selected grape. Lowry’s desire is strawberry.
