The optimism was cautious, but the reviews were rave in preseason.

VJ Edgecombe had inspired plenty of hope throughout his first few months as a member of the Philadelphia 76ers, for what he did on the basketball court and how he approached his work there.

But to have the third-highest-scoring debut in NBA history?

“That’s pretty good,” Nick Nurse said Wednesday night, after getting clarity on whether he was third in team or league history.

Edgecombe’s 34 points in a 117-116 win at Boston was the third-most for a rookie making his NBA debut, the most since a guy named Wilt Chamberlain in 1959.

So without revving the hype train completely off the rails, the returns from his first game in the NBA are, to say the least, positive.

“It’s certainly a great start, but you just know there’s

See Full Page