After the few days the Sixers have had, perhaps they were owed what they were given on Friday night.

In need of a win to keep themselves on court for the more favorable half of the Eastern Conference's Play-In Tournament bracket, the Sixers ran into an Indiana Pacers team with all of the incentive in the world to lose. Looking to secure the best possible draft lottery odds to safeguard their protected first-round pick, Indiana was without Tyrese Haliburton... and Pascal Siakam... and Ivica Zubac... and Andrew Nembhard, Aaron Nesmith, T.J. McConnell, Johnny Furphy and Ben Sheppard. The Pacers had 10 players available; only two – Obi Toppin and Jarace Walker – were part of last year's run to the NBA Finals.

So, even without Joel Embiid, this was a difficult one for the Sixers to lose – even with a truly abominable three-point shooting performance. Tyrese Maxey was aggressive right away, though his efficiency came and went throughout the night. More ominously, Maxey took a hit to his injured right finger late in the third quarter and had to go to the locker room before returning.

On the bright side, VJ Edgecombe's line in the box score was not necessarily outstanding, but his impact on the game was. Paul George shook off a rough first half and got in a groove in tandem with Maxey in the second half. Indiana was able to hang around for longer than either team probably hoped or anticipated, but the end result worked out for everybody.

Thoughts after another eventful day for the Sixers, which culminated in a 105-94 victory over the Pacers:

VJ Edgecombe's rookie growth on full display

What a debut campaign it has been for the 20-year-old rookie Edgecombe, whose standout traits have been better than advertised right off the bat and whose supposed weaknesses have oftentimes looked like strengths in the early stages of his NBA career.

It might sound odd to suggest Edgecombe is so much better now than he was when he played his first NBA game, because he had one of the best debuts in the history of the league. But, compared to his impressive early-season self, Edgecombe has improved leaps and bounds. With their chances of making a deep postseason run looking slimmer than ever, perhaps the single most significant benefit of the Sixers playing a handful of playoff games would be Edgecombe getting some early looks at what that environment is all about.

If this regular season is any indication, Edgecombe will fit right into the intensity of playoff basketball. Before the Sixers' final road trip of the year, he spoke at length about his understanding that every single possession will matter. But he largely plays that way in the regular season, too. Edgecombe's hustle plays have been numerous and he has legitimately been one of the single best clutch players in the NBA, with multiple game-winners to his name already.

This is not simply a story of mentality. Edgecombe's skill and feel for the game have improved dramatically since the start of the year. He has been a much better three-point shooter than anticipated, and despite often sharing the floor with ball-dominant players he has found ways to hunt mid-range pull-ups which have become his bread and butter as a scorer. George's instruction has been extremely valuable there; the nine-time All-Star has taught the rookie who can play at an incredible speed about when he should simply slow things down.

Edgecombe has also become one of the Sixers' best perimeter defenders, almost unheard of for a rookie guard. It has been powered by his instincts. He knows when to try to force a turnover and when to be more "solid," as Sixers head coach Nick Nurse calls it. That was on full display from the jump on Friday; Edgecombe went into intermission with three steals in addition to 10 points, four assists and three rebounds. He occasionally shows up as a shot-blocker on the weak side, too.

Perhaps the most stunning example of Edgecombe's faster-than-expected development has been his playmaking. That was believed to be his most pronounced weakness entering his professional career, and while he is a ways away from being prepared to serve as the primary engine for an NBA offense, that looks like a vaguely conceivable outcome down the line, which did not feel likely at all before the season. Maxey's three weeks on the sidelines presented Edgecombe with a tremendous opportunity for growth and he took full advantage of it.

Edgecombe was fantastic all night long on Friday, the Sixers' best two-way player from start to finish. He ended his night with 16 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three steals in 39 minutes. And, as he has many times this season, Edgecombe set the tone for his team. That is just as rare for a 20-year-old rookie as anything else Edgecombe has accomplished.

In the Rookie of the Year race, Edgecombe will be a distant-but-honorable third-place finisher behind Kon Knueppel and Cooper Flagg. This players deserve to be in contention with each other to win the award, but Edgecombe has had a rookie year which would be worthy of the trophy in many seasons.

Nurse said Edgecombe's season would be a success if he logged significant minutes; Edgecombe is on pace to play 75 games at over 35.0 minutes per game. He has established himself as an unquestioned franchise cornerstone for an organization becoming desperate to turn a new page.

At the 11th hour, Sixers make a roster change

Friday was the deadline for teams to waive players. They were not expected to change their standard roster, but the Sixers did just that, waiving veteran guard Cam Payne and signing two-way wing Dalen Terry to a standard contract with a team option for the 2026-27 season.

Payne represented the team's lone backcourt insurance behind Maxey, Edgecombe and Quentin Grimes – 40-year-old Kyle Lowry is about to complete his 20th NBA season and has not attempted a two-point shot all season – and spent much of his second stint with the organization as a rotation regular. Nurse is a fan. But Payne's right hamstring strain last week complicated things.

From the sounds of it, Friday's transactions were prompted by the Sixers' fear that Payne would miss considerable time. He had already been ruled out for a minimum of two weeks. Two-way players are not eligible to dress for postseason games. With Johni Broome still sidelined after right knee surgery and Embiid still without a timeline to return to basketball activities, if Payne was out for a while the Sixers were only going to have 12 players able to dress, including Lowry.

The Sixers revamped their two-way crop in February after Dominick Barlow and Jabari Walker earned standard deals, and of three players with similar size and prior NBA experience, Terry was clearly the most intriguing. He appeared to have earned the trust of his coaches, is well-liked in the locker room – Terry and George have faced off in long sessions of one-on-one – and has been a tenacious defender:

Terry is extremely limited offensively, but has shown some flashes on that end of the floor:

Terry would have only been available for one of the Sixers' final two regular-season games; instead he was in uniform on Friday and will be again on Sunday – plus whenever the Sixers take the floor next to begin their postseason run.

Odds and ends

Some additional notes:

• With Terry signed to the main roster – he is the third Sixers two-way signee to ink a standard contract this season – the Sixers will finish the year with Tyrese Martin and MarJon Beauchamp on two-way deals. Both players were active on Friday and they should both be available on Sunday, too. Neither will be eligible to participate in any postseason play. There could have been a case made for Martin to get a new contract over Terry because he is a superior ball-handler, but his Sixers tenure never got off the ground.

• One of the 10 available Pacers on Friday: Jalen Slawson, who popped in Summer League with the Sixers in July. Slawson ended up with Indiana's affiliate in the G League and was one of the best players at that level, earning a two-way contract in February and showing some flashes since.

• In Embiid's absence, the center position will exist in a constant state of fluidity. There will be Adem Bona games and there will be Andre Drummond games. It will usually be pretty clear early on, and Nurse will ride the hot hand as much as he can. On Friday, it was a Drummond game; the veteran came off the bench but nearly recorded a double-double in the first half alone.

• This was the first time in his Sixers tenure that George has played in Indianapolis, where he spent the first seven years of his NBA career. George, who forced a trade out of Indiana which unexpectedly led him to Oklahoma City, received some light boos on Friday night.

Up next: The Sixers will return home for their regular-season finale on Sunday evening when they host the Milwaukee Bucks.