One for the standard: VJ Edgecombe makes Sixers history in NBA debut in comeback win over Celtics

Xavier Tillman must've panicked.

The ball in his hands, his team down by two with less than 30 seconds to play. The look, a short push just outside the restricted area on an offensive rebound, was a shot bigs dream of. He'd seldom be more open than he was at that moment.

Maybe he rushed it. Maybe his back got tight.

The Sixers don't care what it was. They just care about the result. He missed the gimme short. Alligator-armed it. A brutal miss for him and his green teammates.

And who was there to engulf the ball as it fell off the rim toward a crowd of trees?

That would be Sixers rookie VJ Edgecombe.

Edgecombe came down with the basketball and was promptly wrestled to the floor by the Celtics. His strength forced a jump ball against Payton Pritchard.

It wasn't much of a jump ball.

Edgecombe's latest effort ultimately sent Tyrese Maxey to the foul line to double the Sixers' lead to four points.

The physical defensive rebound didn't ice the win for the Sixers. But, in the end, it ensured them of a lead that they would not give up.

Opening night is random. The projected-to-be terrible Utah Jazz boat-raced what is supposed to be a very good Los Angeles Clippers team. Weird stuff happens.

The Sixers will take a 117-116 road victory over the Boston Celtics any way they can get it.

Especially after the misery of last season. Especially with there still being so much uncertainty surrounding Joel Embiid and Paul George.

Philadelphia will take it.

It was a perfectly imperfect season-opener. One that the Sixers needed.

No, no one game is paramount on the first night of the season.

But for these Sixers, for the soon-to-be 25-year-old guard transitioning into the leader of the team, it was necessary.

Since media day, Maxey has talked about setting a new standard. That refers to building good habits - not just as individuals, but as a team. It refers to a base offering the Sixers will pledge every game. They won't win every game. But you will leave the building or change the channel on your television thinking that you saw a professional effort.

That wasn't the case in most games last season.

The losing wore on Maxey. It wore on the franchise.

So when players reunited in the offseason, the objective was to get better. But more than that, it was to lay the foundation for something they could be proud of. Something they can go to in moments of adversity as a long season takes its course.

They emerged tougher, more together, more familiar with one another than they were at any point last season.

So when Pritchard's final prayer was off the mark, it wasn't just that the Sixers had won. It was that they had a proof of concept.

They will play better teams than these Celtics over the course of the season. There is a long list of things to work on. 

Joel Embiid should receive some grace after not having played a real basketball game in eight months. He typically comes out slowly to start seasons anyway. But he struggled mightily in his return. The Sixers were outscored by 16 points with him on the court. They were 17 points better than the Celtics with Embiid sitting. That disparity felt truthful as you watched the game.

The big guy had limited speed and agility on defense. He got beat to the rim several times. Even when he was in position to protect the rim, he was not the imposing force he used to be.

If it was better on offense, it wasn't by much.

Embiid shot 1-for-9 from the field en route to four points. He could not create much separation from uninspiring bigs such as Tillman.

He was noticeably quicker to get off the ball than he has been in the past. That probably saved the Sixers from some junked up possessions when he was on the court. Embiid had no turnovers, so it wasn't as if his struggles were actively killing Sixers' possessions while simultaneously feeding the Celtics quality opportunities.

But make no mistake about it, the Sixers will need more out of him than what Embiid gave them in 20 minutes on Wednesday.

Perhaps another version of Embiid would've sulked on the bench after coming out of the game with nine minutes to go. This version of Embiid seemed to accept that the Sixers were going to roll with what had been working.

He stood on the baseline as the Sixers fought for the lead in crunch time. He was visibly excited for Edgecombe and his teammates when they made key plays to preserve the victory.

But he has to be better if this is going to lead to anything. He knows that.

For the better part of the second half, it felt as though this game was going to play out the same way so many have in this era.

A brutal third quarter triggered by the Celtics matching the pace with which the Sixers played in the first half. Philadelphia couldn't adjust in time to stop the deficit from expanding. 

A familiar theme emerged. The Sixers could not stop the bleeding in transition. Boston got whatever it wanted by changing directions in the middle of the floor, turning the Sixers around and blowing by off-balanced white jerseys as they attacked the rim.

The Sixers got caught going under screens, which led to back-breaking threes. The Celtic way.

But Philadelphia, in its pursuit of a standard, wasn't going down without a fight. The Sixers cobbled together enough on both ends of the floor to keep the game within striking distance, and then the backcourt duo of Maxey and VJ Edgecombe took over.

It was as if they'd been doing it for years.

Edgecombe's NBA debut was nothing short of brilliant. He cut backdoor for off-ball scores and ran in transition. He drove with immense force. The Celtics dared him to shoot from the perimeter all night long. The lack of respect didn't affect him. The rookie took 13 threes and made five of them.

He did not allow the dreamy offensive night to serve as a distraction from defense. Edgecombe pulled down six defensive rebounds and broke a number of balls away from the Celtics to ignite transition chances for the Sixers. His contests were controlled and vertical. No rookie fouls.

The no. 3 overall pick was totally poised en route to a 34-point NBA debut - the most points scored by a Sixers rookie in his NBA debut ever.

The reason for hope isn't Edgecombe's shining light by itself. It's that it shined in tandem with Maxey's. The presence of another ball-handler - one who could dribble and move with force simultaneously - unlocked Maxey's game.

The defensive pressure wasn't all on him. He could attack in transition and get to the rim in the halfcourt without having to navigate multiple bodies. A good start led to a heater. Before you knew it, he was catapulting the Sixers back into the game with three consecutive triples in the fourth quarter.

Maxey's last two free throws - the ones that effectively sealed the win for the Sixers - gave him 40 points on the night. He laced seven of his nine three-point tries and shot 13-for-24 overall.

The best version of Maxey heats up quickly and attacks at a speed very few can match. But his stardom lies in his efficiency. That was something he understandably struggled with last season, burdened with being the focal point of an offense that gave defenses one narrow focus.

Who knows if the Maxey-Edgecombe duo is sustainable over the course of an 82-game regular season? The rookie will likely hit normal walls from time to time. Time will tell if those ruts threaten to solve Maxey, too.

For now, the Sixers are 1-0.

Score one for the standard.