Joel Embiid, James Harden will play at Cleveland on second night of back-to-back

CLEVELAND — Joel Embiid will play in the 76ers’ game Sunday night at the Cavaliers after being listed as questionable earlier in the day because of left ankle soreness.

The Sixers are on the second game of a back-to-back set, after throttling the Charlotte Hornets, 144-114, Saturday afternoon at home. Embiid, who is on pace to set a career high in regular-season games played, rested the second game of the Sixers’ last back-to-back, a March 21 home win against Miami.

Before that, Embiid had played in 41 of 42 games while managing a number of injuries during an MVP-caliber season. During Saturday’s postgame news conference, he revealed a deep cut on his right shooting hand, which he said he has been dealing with for about two months because it keeps opening up while catching passes and dunking.

Embiid entered Sunday ranked third in the NBA in scoring at 30 points per game, while also averaging 11.5 rebounds, a career-high 4.3 assists, and 1.4 blocks.

Cleveland’s starting big men, All-Star Jarrett Allen (finger) and rookie of the year contender Evan Mobley (ankle), are both out Sunday.

James Harden is not listed on the injury report. The All-Star guard had missed the second game of the Sixers’ previous two back-to-backs to manage a hamstring injury that occurred before the blockbuster trade with the Brooklyn Nets in February.

Coach Doc Rivers said after Saturday’s win that he hoped Embiid and Harden would both play against the Cavaliers. But earlier in the week, Rivers alluded that his heavy-minute stars could get some more rest time down the stretch. The Sixers have four regular-season games remaining after Sunday, including closing with a home back-to-back against Indiana and Detroit next weekend.

The Eastern Conference standings shifted Sunday before the Sixers even played, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Boston Celtics flipping spots after the Celtics’ win over Washington and the Bucks’ loss to Dallas.

That meant the 47-30 Sixers entered their game against the Cavaliers in fourth, a half-game back of the third-place Bucks (48-30) and one game behind the second-place Boston Celtics (49-30). They were 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Miami Heat (50-28), who played at the fifth-place Toronto Raptors (45-32) Sunday night.

Rivers has proclaimed all season that he does not pay much attention to the standings. And though he notices when teams that the Sixers are competing against for seeding win or lose, he does not make a concerted effort to turn on the TV when those teams are playing.

“I’m not sitting there with tea bags hanging and bunny rabbits laying around the room,” Rivers said.

The Sixers can clinch one of the playoffs’ top 6 seeds, which avoids the play-in tournament for teams seeded seventh through 10th, with a win Sunday.

Count the Sixers among those who were swept up in Saturday night’s instant-classic Final Four matchup between Duke and North Carolina, which the Tar Heels won, 81-77, against their bitter rivals in a game that went down to the wire and ended Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s legendary career.

The Sixers’ Saturday afternoon win against the Charlotte Hornets meant their postgame flight to Cleveland arrived by dinner time. They watched both Final Four games, including Villanova’s loss to Kansas, in a big room at their hotel together, which Rivers said allowed for team-building and rest.

North Carolina’s win was a point of personal pride for Rivers, who was coach Hubert Davis’ “vet” as a player when they were both with the New York Knicks in the 1990s. Rivers said he offered congratulations to Davis during a chat Sunday morning.

“College basketball sometimes is hard to watch,” Rivers said. “That was a hell of a game.”