VJ Edgecombe Ruled Out Sunday With Abdominal Injury
Underdog NBA reported Edgecombe is listed out for Sunday.
VJ Edgecombe is sitting out Sunday's game against the Detroit Pistons with an abdominal contusion, which is just a highly clinical way of saying he took a brutal shot to the stomach and needs a night off.
Underdog NBA reported the official downgrade, meaning the Philadelphia 76ers will be without their rookie guard for the second half of a weekend back-to-back.
The timing makes perfect sense when you look at the box score. Edgecombe just put up a massive 17-point, 13-rebound double-double in Saturday's 127-116 win over the Milwaukee Bucks. He briefly left that game with the injury, and clearly, the adrenaline wore off overnight.
Philadelphia is sitting pretty at 3-0 and boasts the fourth-best defensive rating in the league. They are hosting a surprisingly undefeated 2-0 Detroit squad, but resting a banged-up rookie in October is the most modern NBA move possible.
With Edgecombe in street clothes, the rotation math gets interesting. He has been logging nearly 33 minutes a night. According to RotoWire, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Anfernee Simons are the obvious candidates to soak up that extra run.
If you are holding Edgecombe in fantasy or looking at Sixers player props, you have to pivot to the veterans. Why risk a core piece against Detroit when you can just let him rest his bruised abs and watch Simons shoot 15 times?
The Sixers get a couple of days off after this weekend slate before heading to face the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday. Expect Edgecombe to spend the next 72 hours wrapped in ice so he can get back to crashing the glass.