LOS ANGELES – A “very sloppy” Joel Embiid scored 30 points to lead the resurgent Philadelphia 76ers to a fourth straight victory with a 116-96 triumph over the Memphis Grizzlies on April 6.

Reigning National Basketball Association (NBA) Most Valuable Player Embiid returned from a two-month injury layoff on April 2 to help the Sixers upset the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 30-year-old followed that up with a 29-point performance in the win over the Miami Heat on April 4, and then led the rout of Memphis on the road.

But Embiid said: “I was still very sloppy. I’m not used to the pace (like) before I got hurt. I’ve just got to get used to that pace.”

Sixers coach Nick Nurse added: “I like some of the things. We obviously got to run a bunch of different kinds of formations for him. He’s working his way back.”

Against Memphis, the Sixers were into their stride quickly, leading from early in the first quarter to complete a wire-to-wire victory.

Embiid, who was rested for most of the fourth quarter with victory assured, finished with 30 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks.

The win saw Philadelphia improve to 43-35 to remain eighth in the Eastern Conference.

Before Embiid’s injury in January, the Sixers were safely embedded in the upper reaches of the standings, firmly on course for an automatic play-off spot.

However, in his absence, the Sixers slid down the standings and are now in line to fight through the play-in tournament after regular-season play on April 14.

In other games on April 6, the Los Angeles Lakers bagged a fourth straight win with an impressive 116-97 blowout against the Cleveland Cavaliers, who sit in third place in the East.

Point guard D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with 28 points, while LeBron James posted 24 and Anthony Davis had 22 points with 13 rebounds.

Their performance was yet further evidence that coach Darvin Ham’s team are coming into form at the right time.

The Lakers have now won nine of their last 10 games, and are still in with a chance of forcing their way into the automatic play-off spots.

As things stand, they are eighth in the West with a 45-33 record, just behind the seventh-placed New Orleans Pelicans (45-32) and the Phoenix Suns, who occupy the sixth play-off spot with 46-31.

Lakers coach Ham said his team were preoccupied with the quality of their performance rather than dwelling on where they may fit into the post-season picture.

“We’ve been saying it to ourselves every day – whether it’s a game day or a non-game day, just take care of ourselves, take care of us,” Ham said.

“Everything else will take care of itself and we’ll fall in the spot where we are supposed to fall.

“But the key is for us to be playing at a high level on both sides of the ball. You saw that on the defensive end tonight, when we take care of the ball, we’re a pretty tough team to beat.”

Meanwhile, the Denver Nuggets returned to the top of the Western Conference with a 142-110 rout of the Atlanta Hawks.

Nikola Jokic bagged his 25th triple-double of the season with 19 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists.

Denver are locked in a battle for the conference’s No. 1 seeding. They lead the standings at 54-24, just half a game ahead of the Minnesota Timberwolves (53-24).

Oklahoma City are third with 52-25.

In New York, the Brooklyn Nets overturned a 19-point second-quarter deficit to deny the Detroit Pistons just their 14th win of the season.

Brooklyn completed a 113-103 victory thanks to a fourth-quarter blitz that saw them outscore the Pistons 38-20. AFP