Observations after Sixers snag gutsy Game 2 win over Celtics, Edgecombe and Maxey star 

BOSTON — The Sixers emphatically erased the embarrassment of their 32-point Game 1 loss Tuesday night at TD Garden.

They responded by snagging a 111-97 win over the Celtics to even their first-round playoff series at 1-1. 

VJ Edgecombe was simply incredible, posting 30 points and 10 rebounds. Edgecombe scored the most by a Sixers rookie in a playoff game since Andrew Toney against the Celtics in 1981.

Tyrese Maxey had 29 points and nine assists. Paul George scored 19 points. 

Celtics star Jaylen Brown had 36 points. Jayson Tatum tallied 19 points, 14 rebounds and nine assists. 

Joel Embiid (appendectomy recovery) remained out. A Sixers official said Monday that Embiid has started a post-surgery strength and conditioning program in Philadelphia. 

The Sixers will head home and face the Celtics in Game 3 on Friday night. Here are observations on their Game 2 victory: 

Three-point disparity the early story  

The Sixers’ defense did not have a promising start. Boston scored six points on its first two possessions with long-range jumpers by Tatum and Sam Hauser.

Offensively, the Sixers did a nice job in the opening minutes of taking available mid-range looks without hesitation. They began 4 for 4 from the floor. George knocked down a couple of mid-post jumpers. Edgecombe hit a shot from the left elbow to give the Sixers their first lead of the series at 9-8. 

The contest then shifted back to a similar dynamic as Game 1. Boston made a 16-0 run and went up 26-13 on a Nikola Vucevic three-pointer. 

The early long-distance gap between the teams was dramatic. The Celtics scored the night’s first 15 points beyond the arc. A game after going 4 for 23, the Sixers missed their first six three-point tries. 

Ultimately, the Sixers plugged away impressively until their shooting fortunes improved.

“I thought they just made tough shots,” George said. “We played good defense and they were making tough shots, contested shots. … I think the biggest thing is we were locked in. We were moving, we were flying around, we were helping one another.

“We can sustain that over a game. I thought it wore on them a little bit that we were there, we were contesting shots and we weren’t making it easy. But they came out hot. We just didn’t lay down. We stayed with it, put our heads down and hung in there.”

Edgecombe bounces right back up 

Edgecombe exited at the 4:47 mark of the first quarter, limping off to the Sixers’ locker room.

The rookie had fallen hard on his back a few plays prior while pursuing a defensive rebound. Fortunately for Edgecombe and the Sixers, he avoided anything close to a worst-case outcome.  

Edgecombe returned to the Sixers’ sideline about two minutes later and hopped on an exercise bike. He checked in with seven seconds left in the first quarter. 

“I just landed on my back, but I’m good,” Edgecombe said with a smile. “I was able to finish the game, so I’m good.

“That’s all I got for you. Ain’t nothing wrong with me; I’m good.”

Maxey and Brown sat to start the second quarter. The Sixers didn’t experience any sort of downward slide with their star guard resting. George and Quentin Grimes sunk three-pointers early in the second. Grimes also swatted away a Payton Pritchard jumper. 

Andre Drummond added a corner three. The veteran big man’s baseline push shot lifted the Sixers to a 41-39 edge and Maxey soon subbed in.

Grimes’ two-way play in the first half was an important boost for the Sixers after his quiet Game 1. When he’s on, Grimes can help keep the Sixers’ offense afloat with tough shotmaking during stagnant stretches. 

Edgecombe’s health sure didn’t appear to be an issue in the second quarter. He played a truly spectacular period. 

The 20-year-old chased down ultra-athletic offensive rebounds, played active defense and made his first three-pointers of the series — four of them, in fact. Late in the second, Edgecombe sliced through the Celtics’ defense and slammed in a fast-break dunk. He swished a jumper from the left wing to put the Sixers up 62-54. Edgecombe’s 20 points and seven rebounds topped both teams at halftime. 

As he showed in the Sixers’ opening-night win over the Celtics and on many subsequent occasions, Edgecombe believes that he belongs on big stages and has the tools to shine. He did just that in his second career playoff game. 

Sixers find tons of timely buckets

George committed his third foul with 6:57 left in the second quarter and had to watch the rest of the first half from the bench.

He drained a three-pointer on the first shot of the third quarter to raise the Sixers’ lead to double digits. Following that 0-for-6 start from three-point territory, the Sixers made 11 of their next 14 long-range jumpers. Meanwhile, the Celtics cooled off considerably and finished 13 for 50 (26 percent).

Edgecombe came out again with a limp at the 10:08 mark of the third quarter. Just like in the first half, he was back on the Sixers’ bench minutes later and good to go. 

The Celtics ate into the Sixers’ lead during much of the third quarter, but Edgecombe nailed a pull-up three to restore a six-point advantage. He continued to play fearless basketball and amped up his offensive aggression with Maxey on the bench. 

Boston trimmed its deficit to 84-82 on a short Pritchard jumper early in the fourth quarter. The Sixers prevented the Celtics from surging ahead and Justin Edwards played a major part.

Edwards, who logged 22 minutes off the bench, beat the shot clock with a timely three. He also blocked a Brown jumper, scrapped for rebounds, and generally did valuable, high-effort work as the Sixers’ lone bench wing.

“He’s a bigger wing defender,” Sixers head coach Nick Nurse said of Edwards. “And when Tatum and Brown are both in there, we’ve got to watch who’s in the game. So that led to Justin having a couple of stints there.

“Again, Justin for whatever reason seems to be open. The ball seems to find him and he’s not afraid to shoot ‘em. And he’s a good shooter.”

The Celtics were always bound to push the Sixers. With three-balls from Tatum and Brown, the Sixers’ lead dipped to 91-90.

Tatum missed a go-ahead jumper attempt. Maxey was then rewarded for his persistence through inevitable shooting ups and downs as the Sixers’ lead guard. He canned pull-up threes on the team’s next two possessions.

“He just wanted them,” Nurse said after Maxey’s 12-point fourth quarter. “I think you probably all could see that.

“He kind of looked at me for a play call and I looked at him and called, and he was like, ‘Man, I got it.’ He knew. … One of our emphases coming in was to screen better and I thought we did that tonight. Drummond and (Adem) Bona did a good job of getting him more space tonight.”

The Sixers’ foot stayed on the gas and the Celtics couldn’t create any drama down the stretch. Next on the Sixers’ agenda will be trying to grab an unlikely series lead Friday in Philadelphia.