With the Philadelphia 76ers needing to stop their major bleeding, both literally and figuratively, they first had to break their losing streak in the first game. The jury begins to doubt their real chances of even making the playoffs, and tension around the franchise begins to rise.

And for some sigh of relief, the 76ers did just that last night, snapping an irritating five-game skid at home against the Brooklyn Nets. Despite the absence of Joel Embiid, who arrived late due to an injury, the team put in a great performance on both ends of the field to record their first win in 10 long days.

Jared McCain, who scored 30 points, and Tyrese Maxey, who registered 26 markers despite a minutes restriction, led the team in scoring, but otherwise the 76ers got solid performances from almost everyone. One thing we can’t just gloss over, though, is that Nick Nurse is finally making a crucial change to the lineup that should be huge in light of Embiid’s brief absence.

With Embiid sidelined, Nurse turned to Guerschon Yabusele to man the starting center position — a big departure from his standard move of starting veteran Andre Drummond. This move paid immediate dividends and should give the 76ers a better chance to get off to better starts without their superstar in the meantime.

Yabusele didn’t actually shoot the ball as well as he has done so far this season, but his impact was pretty on-fleek from the start. His presence allowed the 76ers to create even more spacing offensively, which helped McCain and Maxey shred the Nets defense.

Yabusele is a 42.4 percent three-point shooter at the time of writing and has already shown the ability to function as a reliable floor spacer. Letting him start games allows the 76ers’ dynamic backcourt to get into the groove much quicker than with Drummond manning the spot.

Yabusele’s quick decision-making was also a relief, in contrast to Drummond’s very limited skill at it. The scoring attack seemed so much more deliberate, with the Frenchman using his mobility to attack closeouts and chase space.

Moving Drummond as a result should also help alleviate his poor play thus far. He’s clearly much better at showcasing his skills against bench units at this point in his career. Hopefully it stays that way.

Nick Nurse finally made a much-needed lineup quirk to smooth out the edges in the absence of two All-Stars. Hopefully this could kickstart the success of an otherwise terrible start for the Philadelphia 76ers, at least for now with Joel Embiid being sick.