Maybe we have been anticipating a bit an excessive amount of out of VJ Edgecombe. Not that anyone thought he was going to hold the Sixers to the Eastern Conference semifinals by means of the sheer pressure of his will. But you possibly can be forgiven should you have been hoping for one thing more than the 13 factors on 6-of-16 taking pictures that the rookie produced in a Game 1 blowout loss to the Celtics.
Was that actually an excessive amount of to ask?
Well, yeah, it most likely was.
» READ MORE: The Sixers’ shooting was a big problem in Game 1. The bigger problem is it might not have mattered.
It has been 16 years since a 20-year-old Brandon Jennings scored 34 factors in a Bucks loss to the Hawks. No rookie has damaged 30 factors in his playoff debut since. Only one has scored 20: Donovan Mitchell, who dropped 27 for the Jazz in a loss to the Thunder in 2018.
In reality, you gained’t discover many rookies who even topped Edgecombe’s output within the Sixers’ 123-91 loss to Boston on Sunday. Jayson Tatum scored 19 on 8-of-18 taking pictures in his playoff debut. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 18 on 6-of-16 taking pictures. Just behind them is the immortal Ben Simmons, who scored 17 on 5-of-13 taking pictures within the Sixers’ 130-103 win over the Heat in 2018.
This is partly a perform of pattern measurement. There merely aren’t so much of future stars who made the playoffs as rookies. Most of the present-day greats didn’t get their first style of the postseason till Year 2 or 3 of their careers. Great gamers are likely to get drafted by dangerous groups, in any case. But there are sufficient examples to conclude that Edgecombe’s lackluster debut towards the Celtics was the norm.
His 13 factors in Game 1 have been more than double Kawhi Leonard’s playoff debut (six factors, 2012). He outscored rookies Jaylen Brown and Derrick White mixed. He outscored Desmond Bane (eight factors) and OG Anunoby (12 factors). He outscored Domantas Sabonis (4 factors) and Draymond Green (two factors). And, sure, Edgecombe outscored Paul George (two factors) and Tyrese Maxey (three factors).
Sixers coach Nick Nurse is lots acquainted with postseason progress curves. He was an assistant on the Raptors’ workers throughout Anunoby’s rookie playoff run. When Toronto performed the Sixers within the first spherical in 2022, Scottie Barnes was a first-year major scorer. The expertise issues more than the stat line.
“It’s super, super important,” Nurse mentioned. “I think I mentioned this a bunch of times, you have to get in these things, you have to get in the playoffs to get these guys the feel of it, the experience of it. It’s just invaluable experience for them to see what it’s like. They’re just getting started. They’ve got a game under their belt now.
“Now they’re seeing what it’s like going against over and over the same team, the prep and the adjustments and all that stuff. It’s super invaluable. We have to get into this thing as often as you can so these guys can grow and learn and get better from it.”
» READ MORE: Sixers defense offers ‘no resistance’ in Game 1 blowout loss to Celtics and ‘you’re not going to win like that’
Edgecombe performed an enormous function within the Sixers’ taking pictures woes in Game 1, lacking all 5 of his three-point makes an attempt. Including their play-in win over the Magic, he’s 1-for-10 from three-point vary and 13-for-32 from the sector total. But there’s nothing problematic about his efficiency. The downside is that the Sixers are counting on him to be one thing that the majority rookies aren’t ready to be.
It will proceed to be an issue, in all probability. Edgecombe isn’t going to all of the sudden morph right into a full-grown, bodily mature man who can bang with guys like Tatum, Brown and White. He seemed small out there in Game 1. He missed some pictures he may have made, certain. For probably the most half, he seemed bodily overmatched. Because he’s.
“I’m gonna be honest, intensity,” Edgecombe mentioned on Sunday after the loss. “They’re an excellent workforce. I simply assume for us, it’s simply we weren’t making pictures. Wide-open pictures. I’m gonna say wide-open. I imply, butt-naked open. Just pictures — ball getting into and out. Like, it’s deflating. Especially, towards a extremely good workforce that’s additionally taking pictures the ball rather well.”
NBA playoffs: Sixers vs. Celtics
Celtics lead 1-0
Game 1: Celtics 123, Sixers 91 | Murphy: Early offseason?
Game 2: Sixers at Celtics, 7 p.m. Tuesday, NBCSN/Peacock
Game 3: Celtics at Sixers, 7 p.m. Friday, Prime Video
Game 4: Celtics at Sixers, 7 p.m. Sunday, NBC/Peacock
*Game 5: Sixers at Celtics, TBD April 28
*Game 6: Celtics at Sixers, TBD April 30
*Game 7: Sixers at Celtics, TBD May 2
* If obligatory
That final half is vital. The Celtics are as skilled and mature of a workforce as Edgecombe has ever confronted. Remember, he was nonetheless in highschool two years in the past. The model of Tatum that he noticed on Sunday was nothing just like the one who received his first postseason expertise as a 20-year-old rookie. In reality, Tatum is a reasonably good base case to check.
During the Celtics’ run to the Eastern Conference finals in 2017-18, Tatum averaged 13.2 factors in 32.4 minutes in his first 5 video games, taking pictures .393 from the sector and .313 from three-point vary. Things trended up from there. In his final 14 video games of that 2017-18 postseason, he averaged 20.4 factors in 37.1 minutes whereas taking pictures .495 from the sector and .327 from three-point vary. He performed a vital function in pushing LeBron James’ Cavaliers to Game 7 within the convention finals. By that time, Tatum had performed more postseason video games than Anthony Edwards did in his first three NBA seasons mixed.
Tatum’s expertise by the top of that postseason is likely to be triple what Edgecombe and fellow younger Sixers Adem Bona and Justin Edwards see this 12 months.
“I thought those guys played pretty good,” Nurse mentioned. “They didn’t make a ton of mistakes. They took shots they should’ve taken. They were pretty good. Just keep them confident, and again, just showing them areas where they can improve or change on the defensive end or other opportunities they may have on the offensive end.”
Those sound like affordable expectations.
