Inside the 76ers’ celebratory postgame locker room late Thursday, VJ Edgecombe received a phone call from Buddy Hield. That would not normally occur between two players who had just faced off in a wild thriller.

There was no greater example in his early career than his game-winning putback. Edgecombe was sitting on an eight-point night, scoreless in the second half, having committed four turnovers that helped the Golden State Warriors come all the way back from down 24 to have a late one-point lead.

Down 98-97 after blowing a lead that maxed out at 24 points, the Sixers rookie saved the game with a putback lay-up after catching a blocked fadeaway from Tyrese Maxey. The game wasn't over, though, as Golden State quickly inbounded the ball with 0.9 seconds left and had DeAnthony Melton free on a breakaway.

Jared McCain and VJ Edgecombe discuss growing their backcourt pairing for the Philadelphia 76ers off the bench.

A few days before his Warriors are set to take on Edgecombe’s 76ers in Philadelphia in the first matchup between student and teacher, Hield scoffed at such a notion. “He’s homegrown, he’s self-grown, he’s that guy,” Hield told the Bay Area News Group earlier this week.

The Sixers let a 24-point lead slip away against the Warriors but made two massive plays in the final second to pull off a wild win on Thursday.Sixers avoid epic collapse, beat Warriors with wild end-