Home Sports basketball Rookie Edgecombe earns 76ers dramatic late win

Rookie Edgecombe earns 76ers dramatic late win

Rookie VJ Edgecombe scored with 1.7 seconds remaining in overtime to give the Philadelphia 76ers victory over the Memphis Grizzlies.

The 20-year-old contributed 25 points – including his clutch three-pointer – as the 76ers earned a 139-136 victory on the road.

Team-mates Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid led their side with 34 points apiece as the 76ers ended a three-game losing streak.

Ja Morant responded with 40 points for the Grizzlies, while rookie Cedric Coward added a career-high 28 points, but the hosts fell to back-to-back defeats.

The Grizzlies scored the final seven points of the fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, during which they took a 132-128 lead.

Embiid had missed his team’s previous game – a 129-104 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday – because of a right ankle sprain, and this was only his 14th appearance in 31 games this season.

Elsewhere, LeBron James’ 41st birthday was spoiled by the Detroit Pistons, who claimed a 128-106 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers.

Cade Cunningham scored 27 points for the Pistons, who remain top of the Eastern Conference with 25 wins from 33 games after avoiding a season-worst three-game losing streak.

Luka Doncic registered 30 points and 11 assists for the Lakers, with James adding 17 points while becoming just the 12th player in NBA history to compete at age 41 or older.

James, the NBA’s all-time leading scorer, has now played 1,577 career games – second only to Robert Parish’s 1,611.

There were also wins for the Los Angeles Clippers and the Boston Celtics on Tuesday.

The Clippers claimed a fifth straight victory with a dominant 131-90 win over the Sacramento Kings, while the Celtics beat the Utah Jazz 129-119.