Instant Observations: Clutch VJ Edgecombe performance leads Sixers to win over Jazz

The Sixers came into Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz locked into a three-team tie with the Miami Heat and Atlanta Hawks for the 7th-through-9th seeds in the Eastern Conference, just a half game behind the slumping Orlando Magic for that coveted 6th place in the East.

With Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey, Paul George and Kelly Oubre Jr all out of the lineup, the time for “pretty” wins has come and gone. Right now, each and every winnable game is a massive deal for a team looking to position themselves for a late-season run when the stars return.

The Sixers received some help earlier Saturday night, with the Rockets pulling out a 123-122 win over the Heat, not to mention the Lakers downing the Magic 105-104. Sadly, the Warriors could not do the same against the Hawks.

Most importantly, the Sixers took care of business, taking control of their game against the Jazz late in the 4th quarter with a 14-4 run, leading to a 126-116 win to cap off a 2-1 road trip. The sequence of events led the Sixers to break their tie with the Heat and, for now at least, jump ahead of the Magic in the standings, with the Sixers now tied with the Hawks for the 6th spot in the Eastern Conference playoff race (although Atlanta wins that tiebreaker thanks to their 4-0 record in the head-to-head matchup).

It was a crucial night for a team looking to put themselves in position to avoid the play-in tournament altogether.

Here’s what stood out.

Ace Bailey, VJ Edgecombe both have strong performances

VJ Edgecombe and Ace Bailey, the 3rd and 5th selections in last year’s NBA Draft, came into the game fresh off of career-highs for each, as VJ Edgecombe dropped 38 on the Kings in Thursday’s win, with Ace netting 33 in Utah’s 128-96 win over the Bucks on the same day.

VJ came alive in the second quarter, with a pull-up jumper that looked to get him going. Edgecombe then turned it on with a nice spin move to set up a floater a few possessions later, then hit the Jazz with a euro-step in transition for a sweet lefty layup.

But Edgecombe took a hit to the face with a little over a minute left in the first half, and then struggled with his jumper for most of the third. He still found ways to contribute — he committed himself to crashing the glass once again, made some decent passes running the offense and competed defensively. Edgecombe then came back alive down the stretch, with six crucial fourth quarter points, including a dagger baseline jumper with a little under a minute to put the Sixers up by 10.

Edgecome finished the night with 22 points, 13 rebounds and 4 assists.

Bailey struggled early on, shooting just 3-11 from the field at intermission. But the Sixers were far from at their best defensively in this one, caught ball watching time and time again in the second half. Those struggles played right into Bailey’s hands, as the Jazz have done a much better job of utilizing the 6-foot-9 forward as an off-ball threat, rather than the on-ball creator he was at Rutgers. Bailey finished with 12 points on 4-8 shooting in the third as he became Utah’s primary offensive option.

Edgecombe has found a way to contribute in a multitude of different roles. From his defense, to his off-ball shooting, to the on-ball creation that he showed in his 38-point, 11-assist performance on Thursday, Edgecombe has stepped in and been a plus player for a playoff team right from Day 1. Saturday night’s game wasn’t necessarily his cleanest offensive performance of the year, but he found enough ways to contribute to lead the team to victory, including some huge shots down the stretch in the fourth.

Turnovers, transition defense problems persist

Utah is one of the few teams whose injury report is more extensive than the Sixers’. From Lauri Markkanen to Jaren Jackson Jr, from Jusuf Nurkic to Walker Kessler, Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier, to even Brice Sensabaugh, most of the players on the Jazz outside of Bailey that you’ve actually heard of were in street clothes.

A solid, connected effort, and a well-executed game plan should have left the Jazz with no chance in this one.

Which made Utah dropping 70 points on the Sixers in a first half where they shot just 7-22 from deep wildly frustrating, because it largely came thanks to the Sixers’ carelessness with the ball, and their indifference to playing transition defense.

At the half the Jazz led the Sixers with a 15-4 edge in points off of turnovers, helping them build a 70-64 lead heading into the break. The Sixers’ lack of discipline in virtually every point of emphasis for transition defense was on full display, from not stopping the ball, to poor communication, to quite frankly just a poor effort to change directions and get back with any sense of urgency.

The Sixers’ sloppiness with the ball, compounded by their poor effort getting back, helped keep the out-manned Utah Jazz in a game that the Sixers should have been able to control.

To their credit, the Sixers did a much better job after intermission, giving up just two points off of turnovers after the break and holding the Jazz to just 8-21 shooting in the fourth to close the game out.

Shooting woes continue

The Sixers have been able to pull out a couple of wins recently despite getting absolutely cooked from the 3-point line, winning both the Brooklyn (3-25 from 3) and Portland (7-25) games despite being outscored by a combined 66 points from beyond the arc those two wins.

The Sixers were once again trying to overcome a cold 3-point shooting night against the Jazz.

The Sixers finished the game shooting just 6-27 from deep, with Justin Edwards (1-5), VJ Edgecombe (1-4) and Quentin Grimes (1-4) all struggling from beyond. Obviously, not every game is going to be like the win over the Kings, where those three combined to shoot 13-24 from deep, but the inconsistency from the perimeter is tough to overcome.

Then again, it’s tough to be consistent from deep when all of your real advantage creators are in street clothes.

I am increasingly of the mindset that I’m not really going to gauge any of Edgecombe, Grimes or even Edwards on their efficiency right now, with the talent that they’re surrounded by. It’s tough to scale up 3-point looks when all of the shots are coming off the dribble or heavily contested. All that matters right now is finding a way to win, and they’ve done that of late — in part because they’ve played against some real committed tankers, but in part because they’ve dug in and competed in other areas.

But it just would be nice if the Sixers weren’t fighting an uphill battle on the math front each and every time out.

Even still, Quentin Grimes was huge for the Sixers, getting to the rim almost at will on his way to 25 points, five rebounds and four assists. He’s now averaging 21.1 points on 45.7% shooting from the field in the Sixers’ eight games (5-3 record) since Tyrese Maxey went down, which leads the team over that stretch.

Throw in some big offensive games by Trendon Watford (20 points, nine rebounds and four assists) and Cam Payne (16 points, seven assists) off the bench, and the Sixers received a team effort in the win.

Notes

Dominick Barlow left the game in the first quarter with a sprained left ankle and did not return. Nick Nurse told reporters after the game that x-rays came back negative