Sixers takeaways: A statement win, VJ Edgecombe's third-quarter dominance and more from 76ers' win over Knicks

Keith Pompey, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Dec 19, 2025

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NEW YORK — The 76ers showed that they can still beat teams with winning records.

VJ Edgecombe continues to take over in the third quarter.

And Jared McCain is back to feeling healthy.

Those things stood out in Friday’s 116-107 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Statement victory

The Sixers (15-11) have played hard in most of their games, with several of those contests having exciting finishes. But the fact remained that were 4-10 against teams with winning records.

So this matchup against the Eastern Conference’s second-place Knicks (19-8) was a chance for the Sixers to make a statement.

Mission accomplished.

Before Friday, their only victories against teams with winning records came against the Boston Celtics (on Oct. 22 and Nov. 11), the Orlando Magic (Oct. 27), and the Toronto Raptors (Nov. 8). And this victory snapped their five-game losing streak against winning teams.

Against the Knicks, the Sixers played hard and kept things competitive throughout, as expected. But down the stretch, they made the clutch plays that winning teams have usually complete against them.

They took an 88-87 lead into the fourth quarter after Adem Bona split a pair of foul shots. Then Tyrese Maxey’s 3-pointer gave them a 97-92 advantage with 8 minutes, 4 seconds remaining. Then, Edgecombe’s 3-pointer with 2:44 left made it a 108-102 game. And Maxey hit another 3-pointer with 47.9 seconds left to extend the Sixers’ lead to nine points.

The standout point guard showed why he’s worthy of being voted an Eastern Conference All-Star starter by outplaying the Knicks’ All-Star point guard, Jalen Brunson.

Maxey had a game-high 30 points while making 6 of 12 3-pointers along with a team-high nine assists after missing the last two games with an illness. Brunson, a former Villanova standout, finished with 22 points on 7-for-22 shooting — including making just 1 of 7 3-pointers. He was held to six points in the second half.

Edgecombe added 23 points, four assists, two steals and a block.

Andre Drummond showed his shooting range while starting at center in place of Joel Embiid, who had the night off. Drummond made a career-high three 3-pointers while finishing with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. It was his 10th double-double of the season.

Third-quarter Edgecombe

This was the second consecutive game in which Edgecombe dominated in the third quarter. The shooting guard scored 11 of Friday’s points on 5-for-6 shooting, including hitting a 3-pointer, in the quarter.

This comes after Edgecombe scored 17 of his 26 points in the third quarter of Sunday’s 120-117 loss. On that night, he made 5 of 7 shots, including all three of his 3-pointers, in the quarter. Like on Sunday, Edgecombe played the entire third quarter.

His ability to take over enabled to the Sixers to snap out of their third-quarter blues.

Mr. Healthy

McCain can just focus on hoops.

Friday marked his second game playing without a brace on his right thumb since returning from September’s surgery to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament.

“Thank God for that,” McCain said. “So now, I guess that’s pretty much the last thing, now. Just being able to get back in rhythm without a brace and without the tape around it. So last game was the first time we just tried it, and now it’s just getting used to it.”

The second-year combo guard went scoreless on 0 for 5 in Sunday’s 120-117 road loss to the Atlanta Hawks. However, he tied season highs with five assists and two steals. On Friday, McCain finished with 12 points, three rebounds and one assist.

McCain was also still working his way back from last season’s left-knee injury.

The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder missed the final 4 1/2 months of last season with a torn meniscus. McCain suffered the injury on Dec. 13 during a home loss to the Indiana Pacers. He said Friday morning that he’s confident in the knee.

“I think I’m back,” he said. “I mean, I think I’m fully to where I need to be. I think most of it now is just being able to know when I’m coming in and being warm and being ready to come in, because the knee will get stiff if I don’t keep it warm.

“So, kind of just when I go back to warm up, I try and get ready, but sometimes it goes longer, and so I have to keep staying warm, keep doing jumping, or whatever I’m doing to get warm.”