INGLEWOOD, Calif. — V.J. Edgecombe appears quietly assured he’ll be at an NBA All-Star weekend fairly quickly to play in the principle occasion.
Till that day arrives, the Philadelphia rookie celebrated his first journey to this midseason showcase with two game-ending scores and an MVP trophy within the Rising Stars occasion.
Edgecombe led Group Vince to victory within the kickoff occasion for the NBA All-Star weekend Friday evening, scoring 17 factors within the semifinal earlier than hitting two free throws to ice the ultimate.
“All of us wished to compete, and I wished to win,” Edgecombe mentioned. “I actually hate dropping, and we had an opportunity to win all of it, so why not go on the market and win?”
The NBA’s rookies, sophomores and G League prospects opened the All-Star weekend on the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome with this four-team match of three video games performed to a set level whole.
Whereas Edgecombe was probably the most impactful participant, he did not have probably the most memorable bucket: San Antonio guard Dylan Harper ended the primary semifinal by scoring the game-winner over Ron Harper Jr., his older brother.
Dylan Harper then scored eight extra factors within the ultimate for Group Melo whereas teaming up together with his Spurs teammate, Stephon Fort, final season’s Rookie of the 12 months and Rising Stars MVP.
Fort made a putback dunk off Jeremiah Fears’ miss to drag Group Melo inside one level of victory, however Edgecombe drew a foul from Donovan Clingan and coolly hit each free throws to finish it at 25-24.
Edgecombe was motivated by the presence of his 76ers backcourt mate, all-star Tyrese Maxey, who watched from courtside.
“He (mentioned) he ain’t coming to look at if I ain’t going to play onerous,” Edgecombe mentioned. “I used to be like, ‘Man, I’ll play onerous so at the least it is not a waste of his time.’”
Certainly, the lackadaisical efforts which have plagued the All-Star Recreation in recent times wasn’t almost as prevalent on this Rising Stars showcase, and Edgecombe mentioned that is largely due to the motivational efforts of the 4 NBA veterans who led the groups: Vince Carter, Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Austin Rivers.
When the vets have been choosing their groups two weeks in the past, Edgecombe advised Carter to decide on him if he wished to win.
“(Carter) was telling us, ‘Simply go! Simply go! Hold enjoying onerous!’” Edgecombe mentioned. “And we feed off of that. We simply began rolling.”
Edgecombe scored almost half of his staff’s 41 factors — together with the final 10 in a row — whereas successful the second semifinal. Edgecombe did not have to hold his staff within the ultimate, however the No. 3 total decide in final yr’s draft nonetheless scored its ultimate 4 factors.
Dylan Harper known as recreation within the first semifinal with a succession of strikes that would have been discovered on the driveway at dwelling, bullying Ron Jr. into the paint earlier than hitting a step-back jumper.
Dylan caught out his tongue in gleeful celebration of solely his second basket within the semifinal, and their well-known father laughed heartily at courtside.
Ron Jr., a Celtics prospect with 21 video games of NBA expertise, is six years older than Dylan, the No. 2 decide in final summer time’s draft — however the child brother knew he may do it.
“You assume I’ve by no means beat him one-on-one (earlier than)?” Dylan requested with mock exasperation.
The Rising Stars recreation wasn’t a full showcase of the NBA’s high younger expertise as a result of No. 1 decide Cooper Flagg dropped out of the sport because of harm, as did Washington’s Alex Sarr and Memphis’ Cedric Coward.
Edgecombe hit three three-pointers throughout his scoring barrage within the first semifinal to win his duel with Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, who scored simply 4 factors. The 2 rookies are the one severe contenders with Flagg for the Rookie of the 12 months award.
The occasion obtained off to a rousing begin when Clippers prospect Yanic Konan Niederhäuser dunked a lob from Ron Harper Jr. for the primary basket of the evening. The Swiss large man drafted final summer time by the All-Star weekend hosts obtained raucous cheers from the followers in The Wall, an extra-steep supporters’ part put in at Intuit Dome by Clippers proprietor Steve Ballmer.
Niederhäuser led his dropping staff with 11 factors within the first semifinal.
