V.J. Edgecombe leads Crew Vince to victory at Rising Stars Recreation

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 Crew Vince to a 25-24 victory over Crew Melo within the kickoff occasion for the NBA All-Star weekend Friday night time, 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 stated. “I actually hate shedding, 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 event of three video games performed to a set level whole.

Whereas Edgecombe was essentially the most impactful participant, he did not have essentially 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 last for Crew Melo whereas teaming up together with his Spurs teammate, Stephon Citadel, final season’s Rookie of the 12 months and Rising Stars MVP.

Citadel made a putback dunk off Jeremiah Fears’ miss to tug Crew Melo inside one level of victory, however Edgecombe drew a foul from Donovan Clingan and coolly hit each free throws to finish it.

Edgecombe was motivated by the presence of his 76ers backcourt mate, all-star Tyrese Maxey, who watched from courtside.

“He (stated) he ain’t coming to observe if I ain’t going to play exhausting,” Edgecombe stated. “I used to be like, ‘Man, I’ll play exhausting so a minimum of it isn’t a waste of his time.’”

Certainly, the lackadaisical efforts which have plagued the All-Star Recreation lately wasn’t almost as prevalent on this Rising Stars showcase, and Edgecombe stated 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 had 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! Maintain enjoying exhausting!’” Edgecombe stated. “And we feed off of that. We simply began rolling.”

Edgecombe scored almost half of his crew’s 41 factors — together with the final 10 in a row — whereas successful the second semifinal. Edgecombe did not have to hold his crew within the last, however the No. 3 general choose in final yr’s draft nonetheless scored its last 4 factors.

Dylan Harper known as sport within the first semifinal with a succession of strikes that might have been discovered on the driveway at house, 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 choose in final summer season’s draft — however the child brother knew he might do it.

“You suppose I’ve by no means beat him one-on-one (earlier than)?” Dylan requested with mock exasperation.

The Rising Stars sport wasn’t a full showcase of the NBA’s high younger expertise as a result of No. 1 choose Cooper Flagg dropped out of the sport because of damage, 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 acquired off to a rousing begin when Clippers prospect Yanic Konan Niederhäuser dunked a lob from Ron Harper Jr. for the primary basket of the night time. The Swiss huge man drafted final summer season by the All-Star weekend hosts acquired 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 shedding crew with 11 factors within the first semifinal.