V. J. Edgecombe Focuses on Game 7 at TD Garden
v. j. edgecombe is treating Saturday’s Game 7 at TD Garden like its own problem, not another Boston stop from his first NBA season. The Sixers rookie guard said the setting feels familiar, but the stakes erase everything that came before.
Edgecombe and TD Garden
“It’s crazy to think about it,” Edgecombe said about playing in Boston for a winner-take-all game. “The first game was here. Now we’re in the playoffs playing here. I feel like I’ve been in this building a lot now, and this is my first year… Boston’s a good team, so I know that it’s going to be a real competitive game. So everything else is going to be out the window. All previous times we played here is out of the window. It’s all just focused on tonight.”
That line fits the shape of his season in Boston. Many of his memorable moments have come at TD Garden, and the same building now holds the biggest game left between the Sixers and Celtics.
Joel Embiid's Return
Edgecombe has also been more efficient since Joel Embiid returned to play, even with a lower shot total. He has become more impactful in that stretch, and his role has settled around making life easier for the center rather than forcing his own looks.
“That’s Joel Embiid, if we’re being so honest. He’s just so good. I don’t think anyone can guard him one-on-one,” Edgecombe said. “So I just try to make his job easier by getting open looks or an if it’s an available pass, the outlet pass.”
Sixers, Celtics, Game 7
The matchup carries the weight of recent history too. Boston handed Philadelphia a beatdown in a do-or-die game a couple of years ago, and Embiid is 0-3 in Game 7s. Saturday gives the Sixers another shot to change that line in a building that has already shaped much of Edgecombe’s first year.
For Philadelphia, the job is plain: keep the game competitive, lean on Embiid’s gravity, and let Edgecombe keep the floor organized when Boston tries to take away the easy stuff. If the rookie keeps finding open looks and outlet passes, the Sixers can at least make TD Garden work for them instead of against them.
