76ers Open Up 2025-26 Season With Win Over Celtics Behind Dominant Debut From VJ Edgecombe
VJ Edgecombe #77 of the Philadelphia 76ers dunks the ball over Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics in the first quarter of a game at TD Garden. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Goodbye 2024-25, hello 2025-26.
Coming off the worst season of basketball in the Joel Embiid era, the 76ers returned to the hardwood hoping to improve from their previous year’s performances. Last season, Philadelphia went 24-58, the worst record they’ve recorded since winning 10 games in the 2015-16 season.
Nothing went the 76ers’ way last season. They went into the year with NBA Championship aspirations after signing former nine-time All-Star Paul George to a three-year deal, pairing him with fellow All-Stars Embiid and Tyrese Maxey, and drafting Duke guard Jared McCain in the first round.
However, all of those players missed the majority of the season, with Maxey being the only player to play in over 50% of the 76ers’ games last season. As a whole, the 76ers team missed 519 games last year and had 23 players injured, which allowed them to jump into the top three of the NBA draft.
In that draft, they selected a kid of Baylor named VJ Edgecombe, and while he’s only played one game, he’s already making his name known in the City of Brotherly Love.
Edgecombe dropped 34 points, the most in a 76ers debut all-time, and added seven rebounds and three assists. Tyrese Maxey was also phenomenal, picking up where he left off, scoring 40 points on seven three-pointers, tying the 76ers’ record for most points in a season opener, leading the Sixers to a 117-116 victory over the Celtics to start the season 1-0.
As the game tipped off, the Celtics put down their first shot of the year thanks to a layup from Neemias Queta. The 76ers responded, making their first shot of the year, a Kelly Oubre Jr. corner three. Derrick White knocked down his first bucket of the night, a mid-range pull-up, but was one-upped by Maxey, who drilled another three-pointer for Philadelphia.
Two-way contract player Dominic Barlow finished an and-one putback to make it 10-7 76ers, but a 6-0 run from Boston sprung them back out in front midway through the first quarter.
After a timeout from 76ers head coach Nick Nurse, Philadelphia put the ball in their most recent first-round pick’s hands, guard Edgecombe. Edgecombe, out of Baylor, ended the Celtics’ 6-0 run with a running dunk for his first NBA field goal, and on the other end, Jaylen Brown responded with a long three-pointer. However, Edgecombe answered back on the other end with a three of his own, and on the following possession, went to the hole and slammed a beautiful dunk home once again.
The Edgecombe run continued after a Xavier Tillman Sr. layup with another three-pointer, and his 10th straight point for the 76ers. Both teams went scoreless for the next two minutes until Jabari Walker, another new name for the 76ers, drilled his shot of the year.
White and Anfernee Simons both added threes, but Edgecombe continued his dominant first quarter with his third three-pointer for 14 points in the quarter. Quentin Grimes hit one of two free throws just before the end of the first 12 minutes, keeping the Celtics out in front 28-26 after one.
In the second quarter, Maxey decided it was his turn to go on a scoring run. He kicked things off with a pair of free throws and added a full-court dunk after picking up his first steal of the year. After a missed three from White, Maxey pulled up from eight feet and scored his sixth point in a row to put the 76ers back out in front and forcing a timeout from Boston.
Out of the timeout, Sam Hauser drilled his first three of the night, and White added a layup to regain the lead. Embiid knocked down a mid-range bucket, scoring his first bucket of the season, and a possession later added a pair of free throws.
Back and forth both teams went, trading the lead, as Maxey continued his strong quarter with three points and Barlow drilled a pair of free throws. Payton Pritchard scored points in a row, but Maxey responded with eight straight, including back-to-back three-pointers.
Barlow and Edgecombe both added layups and two more points from free throws, with Barlow extending the 76ers’ lead to eight with under a minute to play. Queta went on a small run of his own, scoring four straight points, but Maxey ended his fantastic second quarter with a mid-range bucket for his 19th point of the quarter, giving the 76ers a 57-51 lead after 24 minutes of play.
After the halftime break, the Celtics came out swinging. They opened up the second half on a 14-4 run through the first four and a half minutes of play, and Brown kicked it off with five straight points. Edgecombe answered back with four straight of his own, but the fantastic three-point shooting Celtics got hot with White hitting a pair and Hauser banking in a corner triple to make it 65-61 Boston.
The scoring from Boston kept coming as White scored five straight points off free throws and Simons added a two-point bucket to extend their lead to 11. Four minutes after their last bucket, Maxey knocked down a long three to end Boston’s 16-0 run. That didn’t stop Boston as Simons drilled another three-pointer and Hauser and Chris Boucher added pairs of free throws.
Edgecombe continued his strong night, drilling a long three and slamming home an alley-oop dunk from Oubre. With less than a minute in the third, Pritchard scored four straight points, bringing the Celtics’ lead back to double figures as they lead 86-75 after three quarters of play.
Both teams’ stars were well on display to open the fourth quarter as Brown scored six straight points of three straight shots, but was one-upped on each possession as Maxey drilled his fifth, sixth, and seventh three on the night to cut Boston’s lead back to eight points.
Simons hit a layup to make it a 10-point game again, but the 76ers finally got a big run of their own going. Edgecombe got it started with a long three, and Grimes followed it up with one of his own. Another miss from Boston resulted in a fastbreak layup from Edgecombe for his 30th point of the night, tying a franchise record for most points in a 76ers debut.
Down just two points, Boston flipped that quickly, going on a 15-8 run thanks to six straight points from Queta. Back down nine with three and a half minutes to play, Grimes drilled a three, and Barlow drilled a layup to cut the deficit to four. After another miss, Oubre and Maxey both knocked free throws, but Brown hit a floater to keep Boston ahead by two.
Another miss from Boston gave the 76ers a chance to tie or go ahead, and they did the latter thanks to a huge three-pointer from Oubre to put Philadelphia ahead by one with just over a minute to go. An offensive foul from Hauser gave the 76ers the ball back, and Grimes was fouled. He made one of two at the line to make it 113-111, and after a miss and jumpball win from the 76ers, Maxey was fouled and drilled both free throws to make it a four-point lead.
After a timeout from Boston, Brown missed the first three, but Pritchard drilled the second to make it a one-point game. Edgecombe was fouled and hit both free throws, and Pritchard hit a two-pointer to make it a one-point game again.
Under 10 seconds to play, the 76ers got the pass in to Edgecombe and went to the line once again. Despite having a perfect debut up to that point, Edgecombe made a mistake, missing both free throws, giving the Celtics a chance to win the game. On the other end, the Celtics got the ball into Pritchard, and he missed both his final shots as the 76ers held on to win a nail-biter 117-116.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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