PHILADELPHIA — Joel Embiid, ruled out for a week after a sinus fracture Dec. 13 and without whom the 76ers have already beaten the Charlotte Hornets three times this season, started Friday night against the Hornets. Embiid was listed as questionable but passed a late fitness test. He meets the somewhat-less-than-daunting challenge of the 7-20 Hornets, who rested two of their top players in the name of load management. The 76ers are on the front half of a back-to-back, heading to East-leading Cleveland on Saturday. If preseason declarations hold, neither Embiid nor Paul George will play in that game. Friday was Embiid’s seventh game of the season. He played 17 minutes Dec. 13 against Indiana before getting a forearm to the face in the final minute of the first half. He sported a protective mask of the type worn for previous orbital bone fractures. Embiid scored eight points and had two assists in an eight-minute first-quarter stretch. The 76ers scored 41 points in the opening 12 minutes, the highest for the team in the opening frame of a game this season and tied with the most for any quarter, set in the third quarter Monday in Charlotte. Embiid was part of the 16th different starting five in 25 games. * * * Circumstances, including but not limited to his preseason knee injury, have affected what version of George the 76ers have gotten this year. More time has meant increased fluency and comfort with new teammates. Consistency in rotations has helped. But George has also been a more adaptable. Comfort had bred aggression, which has meant a more vintage version of the nine-time All-Star. “He seemed really comfortable at where he was at, and certainly aggressive to start,” Nurse said Wednesday of George’s performance Monday night. “I think we found a few more areas and things we could do with him. We’re continuing to search those things out. But I thought he got himself free a lot, made some really good passing plays as well.” The big challenge is making sure he stays involved constantly, that the primary ball-handler of the moment keeps him involved. Especially when Embiid is in the lineup, Nurse wants to make sure the two-man game with Embiid and Maxey doesn’t exclude George for long stretches. Even when he’s not scoring, though, Nurse loves George’s ability to affect the game defensively. “Those things that he can do, as far as switching and getting in the lanes and tipping, he’s a captain of the defense who keeps people organized and really, really knows what he’s doing at that end,” Nurse said. “And the things that excite coaches are, I like that he’s really sprung up and chased down some tough rebounds lately, some really athletic, in-traffic, out-of-area rebounds, which I’m thinking, man, those are big plays.” George has averaged 20.2 points in his last six games, five of them wins. He’s shot 50 percent from the field. George’s ability off the bounce and defensively is known. Friday, most impressive was his role facilitating in a unit that jumped out to a 17-6 lead. He picked up three assists in the half-court offense, including two swing passes to a wide open Kelly Oubre for 3-pointers. George played the first 16 minutes uninterrupted and 19 in the first half, with an eye toward him likely missing Saturday’s Cleveland trip. * * * The load management gods taketh away, and the load management gods also giveth. The Sixers caught the Hornets on the tail end of a back-to-back. Charlotte thus held out leading scorer LaMelo Ball, who is working back from a calf injury, and Mark Williams, dealing with a foot issue. Brandon Miller also missed out with a left ankle sprain. Ball scored 38 points against the 76ers on Nov. 10. Miller scored 34 points at the Center on Dec. 3 and 22 in a 76ers overtime win in November. The Hornets lost in Washington on Thursday night. Ball was on-court for pre-game shooting drills at the Center.