VJ Edgecombe explains final play after leading Sixers over Grizzlies

The Philadelphia 76ers had their chance on Tuesday. The Sixers and the Memphis Grizzlies were tied at 136 and coach Nick Nurse called for time as he drew up the final play.

As the ball was inbounded to Tyrese Maxey, rookie guard VJ Edgecombe set the screen, which then led to the Grizzlies sending two to Maxey as he turned the corner, and then Maxey kicked it back out to Edgecombe. The poised rookie does what he does as he knocked down the 3-pointer with 1.7 seconds left to lift the Sixers to a 139-136 overtime win.

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"I know the moment is never too big for me," Edgecombe told reporters after the win. "I was ready. To be honest, I was ready. I barely played in the first half because I was in foul trouble, but that’s how it goes. My coaches trust in me to make plays and that’s what happened."

In terms of the final play, the rookie guard knew Maxey was going to get a lot of attention. The Grizzlies did the smart thing in terms of sending two to Philadelphia's star guard and forcing the ball out of his hands. The problem for Memphis is that Edgecombe is no ordinary rookie.

"Coming out of the timeout, we knew what we were gonna run," Edgecombe added. "We knew Tyrese was either gonna get a layup or a shot. My teammates have faith in me to make a play, and yeah. That’s what happened. They doubled him and I was wide-open and I was shooting it regardless of how far I was. I was shooting it."

Edgecombe then confirmed to reporters that the Sixers weren't targeting any specific defender. The idea was to use both his and Maxey's specific skillsets and play off that. Obviously, it worked.

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"Certain teams assign a person to Tyrese every game," Edgecombe finished. "They assign their best perimeter defender to Tyrese every game and most of the time, they’re not trying to switch that. I know I was just hitting the bottom side, rotate away from the help, and Tyrese had the lane, or they double, and I’m wide-open, so that’s all it was."

The Sixers will continue the road trip on New Year's Day when they take on the Dallas Mavericks.

This article originally appeared on Sixers Wire: VJ Edgecombe explains final play after leading Sixers over Grizzlies