March 20, 2026
Lately, the injury-decimated Sixers have been lucky to benefit from just one standout individual performance. On Thursday night in Sacramento, they got three.
These were not just run-of-the-mill outlier nights. While Quentin Grimes (27 points, seven assists, five rebounds) has been here many times before, VJ Edgecombe (38 points, 11 assists, seven rebounds) and Justin Edwards (32 points, seven three-pointers) set multiple career-highs in the best games of their young NBA careers.
The Sixers did not get a ton from the rest of their rotation on Thursday, though Andre Drummond, Dominick Barlow and Adem Bona did all provide stable minutes. Against a lowly Sacramento team, three performers as dominant as Edgecombe, Edwards and Grimes were more than enough for the Sixers to get back in the win column.
In this week's Friday film, recounting the stellar nights from all three players:
Edgecombe scored 34 points in his historic NBA debut against the Boston Celtics in October. But for nearly five months, he failed to reach the 30-point mark again. Edgecombe knew it. He made a joke about it just last week when talking about Grimes scoring a season-high 31 points in a win over the Portland Trail Blazers.
It became clear pretty quickly that Edgecombe had a chance to break that drought. By the end of the third quarter, he had done it, reaching 31 points. Then came a quick barrage of baskets in the final frame to set a new career-high. Edgecombe might have gotten to 40 points if not for an overturned foul call. But the 38 points will do:
VJ Edgecombe scored a career-high 38 points in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday (16-28 FG).
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
All of Edgecombe's baskets against the Kings: pic.twitter.com/MZxgdieIkg
With Tyrese Maxey sidelined, though, the most challenging aspect of games for Edgecombe has become serving as the Sixers' primary ball-handler. He has never been double-teamed in his life before now, he has said. His handle and passing are better than anticipated as an NBA rookie, but they remain relative weaknesses.
So, Edgecombe making the right decisions time and time again with the ball in his hands on Thursday was a great sign, and his first double-digit assist game was an encouraging result of that. Of Edgecombe's 11 assists, 10 went to Edwards, Grimes or Drummond, with the other going to Barlow:
Each of VJ Edgecombe's career-high 11 assists in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday: pic.twitter.com/NfTtnQnYWm
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
Speaking of those double-teams, Edgecombe is learning how to get off the ball relatively quickly when teams put two defenders on him. The Sixers continue to drill their bigs to be good short-roll passers, particularly to accommodate Maxey when he commands so much respect that defenses would rather give the Sixers in a 4-on-3 opportunity. Now, Edgecombe is learning to make those passes:
On a night he had a career-high 11 assists, VJ Edgecombe also made important passes that did not show up in the box score, like this one to set up an Andre Drummond-to-Dominick Barlow assist on a short roll: pic.twitter.com/VNEV9DPlQW
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
With 38 points, Edgecombe notched the highest-scoring game by a Sixers rookie since Maxey scored 39, five years and change ago.
MORE: 'Seven Sixers' recall when 'everything was weird' as Tyrese Maxey's ascent began
Edwards was just a handful of weeks away from his sophomore NBA season being somewhat of a lost year. He emerged as a noteworthy prospect as an undrafted rookie, but one signature performance aside he had done very little despite receiving several chances to contribute this season.
But one more opportunity was all Edwards needed. And with the swarm of injuries shortening Sixers head coach Nick Nurse's rotation, he has turned back to a player he is extremely fond of. The Sixers have tried to pour into Edwards, and it has worked. He is oozing confidence right now. Edwards, whose new workout ritual has enabled him to get off to hot starts as a three-point shooter, was lights out early in the game for the Sixers, scoring 13 points in the first six minutes of action.
After being silent for a long while, Edwards got hot again in the second half. There was a palpable conviction in his three-point shots. His career-high in triples led to a career-high in points, his first time eclipsing the 30-point mark in an NBA game. Edwards is in the midst of what is far and away his best stretch of basketball for an NBA team trying to win games:
Justin Edwards continued his recent surge with the best game of his young NBA career in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Thursday night. Edwards scored 32 points (11-18 FG, 7-11 3P) and was a +47 in 33 minutes.
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
Every made basket from Edwards' career night: pic.twitter.com/9v0I0qgSKH
If the Sixers ever get back to full strength, it is difficult to argue against Edwards being part of the rotation. He applies ball pressure and works hard across multiple positions defensively, and has clearly demonstrated strong capability as a spot-up three-point shooter who makes quick decisions with the ball. He has, in a very short period of time, improved his stock dramatically.
Before Edgecombe and Edwards hit second gears late in the third quarter and early in the fourth quarter, it felt like Grimes was the Sixers' best player on Thursday. After a brutal bench lineup he was part of coughed up a healthy early lead, it was Grimes whose scoring efforts late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter helped create significant separation for the Sixers again:
Quentin Grimes posted a 27-7-5 line in the Sixers' win over Sacramento on Friday, shooting 10-20 from the field and 3-6 on three-point attempts.
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
All of Grimes' baskets against the Kings: pic.twitter.com/gCOAV9B1uv
Grimes will never play in such a ball-dominant role for a championship-caliber NBA team. The point has been belabored for over a year now. But the fact that he is capable of exploding for this sort of offensive performance on any given night is meaningful. Every team misses its best player(s) at some point. The Sixers are especially prone to that. They need players who can scale up.
Additionally, Grimes has appeared more comfortable operating as a cutter of late; that would be quite useful on an idealized version of the Sixers. Drummond, who for the second time in three games had one of his best performances in months, has developed some chemistry with Grimes on give-and-go plays:
Andre Drummond and Quentin Grimes appear to have pretty good chemistry on these plays: pic.twitter.com/mzW0e4PBIS
— Adam Aaronson's clips (@SixersAdamClips) March 20, 2026
Once again, the Sixers have a chance to erase the taste of an embarrassing road loss and end up with a winning trip. They can secure a 2-1 record on their Western Conference swing by beating another tanking team, the Utah Jazz, on Saturday night.
MORE: Zhaire Smith on his 'very scary' Sixers tenure
