Joel Embiid and James Harden pace Sixers in victory over Charlotte Hornets in preseason finale

P.J. Tucker’s shin inadvertently banged into Joel Embiid’s head as the 76ers’ All-NBA center fell to the ground late in the second quarter of Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Charlotte Hornets, a collision that resulted in Tucker taking an early visit to the home locker room.

“I just saw [Tucker] and Joel laying on the floor,” coach Doc Rivers recalled. “That’s never a good sight in a preseason game.”

Tucker was back to warm up with his teammates a few minutes later, launching three-pointers while clearly testing how his leg felt. The 37-year-old forward — and the Sixers’ prized free-agency acquisition — then began the second half with the rest of the starters of what eventually became a 99-94 victory at the Wells Fargo Center.

So, crisis averted. But it was the sign that it was time for the Sixers to power down their 4-0 preseason and begin preparing for a marquee regular-season opener Tuesday night at the Boston Celtics, last season’s Eastern Conference representative in the NBA Finals.

Even before the brief injury scare, Rivers described the Sixers’ effort as “sloppy.” Though his team had all of its rotation players available, the Sixers shot 39.3% from the floor, including 11-of-35 from three-point range. But they took advantage of a Hornets team playing without star point guard LaMelo Ball (sprained ankle), scoring 19 points off 24 Charlotte turnovers.

“You could feel that it was the last preseason game and no one was going to get hurt,” Rivers said. “This is how veterans [and] how I played. ... You literally play [like] ‘I don’t want to run into each other.’ That’s how our defense was in the first half, but we got through it.”

Embiid (19 points, six rebounds) and James Harden (17 points, five assists, 4-of-8 from three-point range) paced their scoring, while Tyrese Maxey (3-of-13, nine points) struggled with his shot for the first time in the preseason and Tobias Harris went 0-for-5 from the floor.

» READ MORE: Sixers will go ‘smaller’ behind Joel Embiid with Paul Reed, Montrezl Harrell, and P.J. Tucker

After resting and not playing in Monday’s preseason contest in Cleveland, Embiid feasted on his matchup with the Hornets’ Mason Plumlee. Embiid went 8-of-17 from the floor, mixing jumpers over the top with finishes inside.

He hit a pull-up on the Sixers’ first possession. He buried a turnaround later in the period. Right after he re-entered the game about midway through the second quarter, he drained another off-the-dribble jumper. And he weathered picking up two fouls in the game’s first two minutes.

Embiid’s night finished at 23 minutes, shortly after a massive swat on the Hornets’ Terry Rozier.

» READ MORE: Danuel House Jr.’s only goal is to help the Sixers win: ‘I feel like that’s my biggest accolade’

Montrezl Harrell also missed Monday’s win in Cleveland with a rib muscle injury, but was a bench spark with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting and six rebounds as the backup center against the Hornets.

After entering for Embiid late in the first quarter, Harrell immediately finished inside and hit a push shot while playing off Harden. Later, he secured an offensive rebound and putback. Shortly after replacing Embiid in the third, Harrell rattled home a dunk off a pass from Maxey. After following his own miss down low, he hollered and banged his head with his fists.

“He plays hard, plays with energy,” Rivers said of Harrell. “[He] knows how to play. Knows how to play with the second group, too, which is significant.”

Harrell is competing with Paul Reed, who did not play until the fourth quarter Wednesday, for that backup center job. Rivers, however, said he expects both players to be rotation regulars, since Harrell and Reed can also play power forward.

“We’ve got a lot of talent, and [the coaches have] got tough decisions to make,” Embiid said. “… We’ve got a lot of guys that can play, so we’ve just got to get everybody on the same page.”

*De’Anthony Melton (five points, five rebounds, three assists) was the first Sixer off the bench again Wednesday, allowing him to play alongside Harden and Maxey in the backcourt.

*The Sixers began the second quarter with the grouping of Maxey, Melton, Harrell, Danuel House Jr., and Georges Niang.

*Like Reed, guards Shake Milton and Furkan Korkmaz and wing Matisse Thybulle did not play until the second half. Isaiah Joe and Charles Bassey did not play at all, which Rivers attributed to the logjams at guard and center.

Rivers said he wanted to tighten the rotation to nine players Wednesday, and to make sure Harrell got minutes after Monday’s absence. When asked how close he is to solidifying those substitution patterns, the coach said that will remain “fluid” for now.

“That will take a while before we figure out who should come out first, Tyrese or James, or who should play with what group,” Rivers said.