Sixers could welcome back Joel Embiid for Friday’s meeting with Charlotte Hornets: ‘We should have full strength’

No matter how dire the circumstances, the 76ers can rely on beating the Charlotte Hornets.

Three of their eight victories have come against Charlotte. The Sixers (8-16) will look to sweep the Hornets in the teams’ fourth and final meeting of the season on Friday at the Wells Fargo Center (7 p.m., NBCSP). And at least one Sixers player thinks the team may be in line to receive a major boost for the game.

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“I’m sure Joel [Embiid] will be back tomorrow, too,” Andre Drummond said following Thursday’s practice. “We should have full strength tomorrow and go from there.”

Embiid, the 2023 league MVP, missed Monday’s game against the Hornets with a right sinus fracture. At the time, the Sixers expected Embiid to remain sidelined for an additional two games and said he would be reevaluated in about a week. The team had said the earliest the seven-time All-Star could return would be against the San Antonio Spurs this upcoming Monday.

But …

“I’m looking forward to a great game tomorrow,” Drummond said. “Looking forward to having everybody back and really trying to build this chemistry.”

Asked if he knew Embiid was definitely coming back, Drummond, initially, said he wouldn’t speak for his teammate.

“He looked fine in practice the past two days,” he said. “He’s a grown man, so whatever he decides to do is on him. I’m just saying he looks ready to play to me. So that’s why I said it …

“Obviously, it’s up to him if he feels comfortable going out there quite yet. But he looked fine to me. He’s been moving around. He wore his mask. So whatever the team doctors say for tomorrow, I didn’t say it here first. I take back what I said. If they didn’t tell you, I have no idea.”

A couple hours after Thursday’s practice, the Sixers said Embiid would be reevaluated Friday and listed him as questionable to face Charlotte.

The Sixers have won nine straight and 26 of their last 28 meetings against the Hornets. And their 53-point victory on Dec. 16, 2023, was the third-largest margin of victory in franchise history.

This season’s victories were much needed and came when the banged-up Sixers were well rested. That will also apply to their final meeting.

The Hornets took a 7-19 record into Thursday night’s road game against the Washington Wizards at Capital One Arena. Meanwhile, the Sixers were idle since beating Charlotte, 121-108, Monday night at the Spectrum Center. The Sixers were assigned that game and their Dec. 13 home loss to the Indiana Pacers after all three teams failed to advance to the NBA Cup quarterfinals.

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This season’s other meetings against the Hornets included a 107-105 overtime victory on Nov. 10 at The Center to snap a five-game losing streak. The Sixers’ first back-to-back wins came in road games vs. the Detroit Pistons (111-96) and Charlotte (110-104) on Nov. 30 and Dec. 3, respectively. Only one of the Sixers’ eight victories has come against a team with a winning record — the Orlando Magic, who are 17-11 entering Thursday.

“They play everybody close,” coach Nick Nurse said of the Hornets. “They have talent and compete, and they’re playing everybody hard. Their record is probably not indicative of what it’s like to play against them. … They have a lot of really close losses to a lot of really good teams. So they come to play.

“I don’t know [why the Sixers are successful against them], other than the fact that we played well against them almost every time, especially from the start. We built up some double-digit leads, I think, in almost every game as well. And they come fighting back furiously all the time as well.”

Paul George has feasted on the Hornets in this season’s three matchups, averaging 25.7 points and 8.3 assists while shooting 48.1% on three-pointers. He had 33 points on 13-for-20 shooting — including 6 of 9 three-pointers — along with five rebounds, eight assists, and two steals on Monday. George also made 6 of 9 threes as he posted 29 points and eight assists against Charlotte on Dec. 3.

Meanwhile, Tyrese Maxey is coming off Monday’s 40-point, four-steal performance. The All-Star point guard has averaged 30.5 points and 6.0 assists in two games against the Hornets this season.

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Benefiting from improved play and a favorable schedule the Sixers will look to nab their sixth win in eight games after starting the season 3-14. The Hornets, meanwhile, had lost 14 of their last 17 games heading into their matchup against the Wizards, who entered Thursday 3-21.