VJ Edgecombe and Justin Edwards have career nights and other things we leaned in Sixers' win at the Kings

Gabriela Carroll, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Mar 20, 2026

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The Philadelphia 76ers dominated the Kings in Sacramento, picking up a 139-118 road win behind career nights from VJ Edgecombe and Justin Edwards.

The Kings (18-53) aren’t the most competitive opponent the Sixers have seen recently, but there was plenty to like from the under-manned Sixers on Thursday.

Here’s what we learned:

—The new Big Three?

The Big Three the Sixers might have expected at the beginning of the year is Tyrese Maxey, Joel Embiid, and Paul George. But with all three players sidelined, Edgecombe, Edwards, and Quentin Grimes have carried the load. All three had big nights in Sacramento.

Edwards and Edgecombe both set career-highs in points. Edwards finished with 32 points, while Edgecombe scored 38 along with 11 assists and five rebounds. It’s been weighing a bit on Edgecombe, who joked after the Sixers’ win over Portland on Sunday that he hadn’t broken 30 since his debut. Edgecombe is the fourth rookie in franchise history to put up at least 30 points and 10 assists in a game, and joins Allen Iverson as the only rookies in franchise history to record 35 or more points and 10 or more assists.

Grimes put up a 27-point performance of his own, and all three were efficient, each shooting over 50% from the field.

With Maxey out, Nick Nurse has challenged Edgecombe to step up as one of the team’s primary ball-handlers. It’s been an up-and-down process. Edgecombe had nine points on 3-for-12 shooting against Denver on Tuesday. But against Sacramento, Edgecombe showed why he is such a key piece of the Sixers’ future. Nurse wants Edgecombe to be aggressive and take 20 shots a game. His 16-for-28 shooting night is exactly what the Sixers have been looking for.

—Three-point shooting

A big reason that group was especially effective on Thursday was their three-point shooting. As a trio, they made 13 threes, the lion’s share of the Sixers’ 17 made threes on 47.2% shooting from deep. Edwards hit a career-high seven three-pointers on 11 attempts. With every game, Edwards makes the case for why he should stay in the healthy rotation on a team low on effective three-point shooters.

In the previous 11 games, the Sixers shot just 27% from beyond the arc, which ranked last in the NBA. The last time the Sixers made 17 three-pointers was against Miami on Feb. 26, with Maxey and Embiid still in the lineup.

Some of the help Thursday came from unexpected places. Before the 2025-26 season, Andre Drummond had made 23 total three-pointers in his 13 NBA seasons. In 2025-26, Drummond has made 26 three-pointers, including knocking down three corner threes against Sacramento on Thursday.