ATLANTA _ The 76ers seem to be a team that can withstand most situations.
They overcame horrid shooting in their first two games of the season. Then, on Monday, they overcame Trae Young and the scrappy Atlanta Hawks to win 105-103 here at the State Farm Arena.
Joel Embiid hit a pair of foul shots with 5.3 seconds left to give the Sixers their two-point cushion. Vince Carter missed a desperation three-pointer at the buzzer, as Philly escaped with the victory.
The Sixers are 3-0 for the first time since the 2013-14 season, Brett Brown's first season. The victory also left them as Eastern Conference's only remaining undefeated team. The Hawks dropped to 2-1.
Embiid finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds, five assists, and three steals after missing Saturday's victory at the Detroit Pistons with a sprained right ankle.
While he was healthy, the Sixers finished the game with just 11 able bodies.
Mike Scott was ejected after picking up a flagrant 2 foul for driving a shoulder into Damian Jones on a breakaway with 1 minute, 36 seconds left in the first half. One could argue that the ejection call was a bit excessive. Scott didn't use his hands, nor did Jones fall to the floor on the play. The players even shook hands before Scott headed to the locker room.
Then late in the third quarter, Shake Milton hyper-extended his left knee and didn't return. His knee appeared to buckle while posting up. The second-year reserve guard went to the locker room where he was examined.
Josh Richardson also took a shot in the mouth early in the fourth quarter while picking up his fifth foul. But after going to the bench because of foul trouble, he returned to close out the game.
In addition to having players nicked up, the Sixers suffered through offensive shortcomings by Tobias Harris and Al Horford. But both players made timely contributions late.
Harris finished with 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting, including missing eight of nine three-pointers. Horford had four points 1-for-4 shooting, but contributed nine rebounds and four blocks.
Horford made a pair of foul shots with 2 minutes left to give the Sixers a 101-100 lead. Then Harris hit a turnaround jumper that gave them a 103-100 lead with 42.1 seconds remaining. John Collins' putback of a Young missed foul shot knotted the score at 103 with 7.4 seconds left.
The Sixers held Trae Young to 25 points, his lowest scoring output of the season, and just 12 points after the first quarter. He also turned the ball over seven times.
The Hawks' second-year point guard led the NBA in scoring at 38.5 points heading into Monday's game. He was also tied for sixth in assists at 9.0 per game. For his effort, Young was named the Eastern Conference player of the week.
Under second-year head coach Lloyd Pierce, the Hawks are off to their best start since going 3-0 in 2016-17. Pierce, a former Sixers assistant coach, isn't the only Hawk with ties to the Philadelphia area and the Sixers.
Rookie small forward DeAndre Hunter (Philly) and rookie shooting guard Cameron Reddish (Norristown) are both from the area. Another rookie, two-way forward Charlie Brown Jr. (Philly/St. Joseph's) has been assigned to the G-League.
Hunter (14 points) and Reddish (four) both started against their hometown team on Monday.
"They're both elite defenders and can be elite defenders because of their size, because of their length," Pierce said. "They can play multiple positions."
The 6-foot-7 Hunter will be used some at power forward in addition to playing small forward and shooting guard. The 6-foot-8 Reddish played point guard and small forward in addition to shooting guard.
Richardson had 14 points, while Simmons added 13.
