PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday night’s game with Cleveland winners of six of eight, with six straight home games awaiting. In an anything-can-happen NBA that seems even more pronounced this season, it’s too much to posit a chance for the 76ers to open up some space in a crowded Eastern Conference. But it is an opportunity to establish some more consistency with a healthy lineup and steady rotations. All of that, of course, hinges on Joel Embiid, who started for the 10th time in 12 games Wednesday night. The more the two-time NBA scoring champ is in the lineup, the more the rest of the stars in the 76ers’ constellation can orient themselves around his generational gravity. “As he’s playing more and starting to move better and playing better … we can do some different things,” coach Nick Nurse said pregame. “I think that there’s still some phases of it, like we like to move him around more, and we’re getting to a little bit more of that different parts of the court.” In those last nine games, Embiid has averaged 27.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 33.4 minutes per outing. He’s a plus-67 in that time, an average of plus-7.4 per game. The other pieces are starting to coalesce around him, even if the 76ers’ rotation remains unsettled toward the bottom of the nine or 10 bodies that Nurse deploys nightly. Tyrese Maxey is averaging 29.3 points per game in his last 11, including 43.5 percent shooting from 3-point range. Despite a couple of sluggish games of late, Paul George is shooting 36.8 percent from 3-point range, a percentage point higher than he did last season though still not back to the 40 percent clip he’d been capable of in three of the five seasons before he joined the 76ers. One interesting development of all the changes around him is that rookie VJ Edgecombe is averaging seven assists in his last five games. He’d had only seven or more assists twice in his first 29 games. The 35 assists is against 12 turnovers. “I think that it’s kind of dependent on who we’re playing and what the matchups look like or what schemes teams are using,” Nurse said. “But I find myself when I’m doing draw-ups at timeouts, I find myself putting him with the ball much more frequently than maybe a month ago, just for whatever reason. … VJ is a good starter of that stuff.” • • • The NBA schedule-makers have provided the 76ers with a week in which they play just two teams. The stretch offers both playoff prep and potential playoff previews. The 76ers recovered from blowing a late lead to lose in overtime Sunday in Toronto to then handle the Raptors a day later in Toronto. This week, they take on Cleveland Wednesday and again Friday. “It gives you a little mini look at a series and a playoff-type situation,” Nurse said. “It does keep you on the same team for a few days in a row, so gives you a chance to maybe look at your team a little more in depth over those days, because you’re not sprinting to the next prep session as much.” Entering Wednesday, Toronto was fourth, the 76ers fifth and the Cavaliers seventh in the Eastern standings, so a playoff permutation bringing the teams together come April would be no shock. • • • NOTES >> The 76ers again presented a clean injury report, with everyone available. Edgecombe played despite a listing of a left adductor contusion. Kelly Oubre shook off an illness. He played his fifth straight game since missing 22 due to a knee sprain. … Embiid scored three points in the first half to hit 13,000 career points. He’s just the seventh player to notch that many points in a 76ers jersey in club history. ...read more read less