Philly special: V.J. Edgecombe leads Team Vince to victory at NBA All-Star weekend’s Rising Stars
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Philadelphia rookie V.J. Edgecombe led Team Vince to victory in the Rising Stars event at NBA All-Star weekend Friday night, scoring 17 points in the semifinal before hitting two free throws to end the final.
San Antonio guard Dylan Harper ended the first semifinal in memorable fashion by scoring the game-winning bucket over Ron Harper Jr., his older brother.
Dylan Harper then scored eight points in the final for Team Melo while teaming up with his Spurs teammate, Stephon Castle, last season’s Rookie of the Year.
Castle made a putback dunk off Jeremiah Fears’ miss to pull Team Melo within one point of victory in the final, but Edgecombe drew a foul from Donovan Clingan and coolly hit both free throws to end it at 25-24. Edgecombe was named the Rising Stars MVP.
The NBA’s rookies, sophomores and G League prospects opened the All-Star weekend at the Los Angeles Clippers’ Intuit Dome with this four-team tournament of three games played to a set point total.
Dylan Harper called game in the first semifinal with a succession of moves that could have been learned on the driveway at home, bullying Ron Jr. into the paint before hitting a step-back jumper. Dylan stuck out his tongue in gleeful celebration of only his second basket in the semifinal, and their famous father laughed heartily at courtside.
Edgecombe scored nearly half of his team’s 41 points — including the last 10 in a row — while winning the second semifinal to set up a showdown between the teams led by NBA greats Vince Carter and Carmelo Anthony.
The Rising Stars game wasn’t a full showcase of the NBA’s top young talent because No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg dropped out of the game due to injury, as did Washington’s Alex Sarr and Memphis’ Cedric Coward.
Edgecombe hit three 3-pointers during his scoring barrage in the first semifinal to win his duel with Charlotte’s Kon Knueppel, who scored just four points. The two rookies are the only serious contenders with Flagg for the Rookie of the Year award.
The event got off to a rousing start when Clippers prospect Yanic Konan Niederhäuser dunked a lob from Ron Harper Jr. for the first basket of the night. The Swiss big man who was drafted last summer by the All-Star weekend hosts, got raucous cheers from the fans in The Wall, an extra-steep supporters’ section installed at Intuit Dome by Clippers owner Steve Ballmer.
Niederhäuser led his losing team with 11 points in the first semifinal.
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