Doc Rivers knows the Sixers were fortunate to leave San Antonio with a victory | Off the Dribble

The 76ers are in a good place: first place in the Eastern Conference. They won their fourth straight game with Sunday’s 113-111 overtime victory at San Antonio.

It was also the fourth consecutive game that the Sixers faced an outmanned, injury-plagued team. The Sixers have regained their health when other teams continue to struggle with injuries.

More of the same will take place Monday when the Sixers visit a struggling Chicago Bulls team that has injury issues of its own and has lost 10 of its last 14 games.

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— Marc Narducci (offthedribble@inquirer.com)

There have been a few times this season when Sixers coach Doc Rivers has been happy with the result but not with the performance. Count Sunday as one of those times.

Playing a San Antonio team missing four starters, the Sixers appeared ready to coast. They led the Spurs by as many as 17 points in the first quarter and 16 with just more than 8 minutes remaining in the third.

“I thought there were times we moved the ball great, but then it felt like every time we got a big lead, the ball starts sticking,” Rivers said.

The coach felt that the Spurs came back because of basically a lack of Sixers teamwork on offense.

“The first unit started doing it the end of their rotation, and then I thought the second unit just basically started playing Iso ball,” Rivers said. “That’s not who we are.”

For one night, it was.

“It’s one of those games, sometimes you think you’re going to win by a lot and so guys play free ball and what happened was the Spurs didn’t go away,” Rivers said.

While Rivers wants the Sixers to clean things up on offense, the defense has been airtight, another reason the Sixers should have optimism entering the postseason. In the last four games, the Sixers have the best defensive rating in the NBA, allowing 97.2 points per 100 possessions. No. 2 is New Orleans (102.5).

Right now, every win is huge for the Sixers as they attempt to earn the top seed in the Eastern Conference. The Sixers (43-21) hold a half-game lead over the second-place Brooklyn Nets. After Monday, both teams will have seven remaining games.

» READ MORE: Doc Rivers focused on winning games, giving players proper rest down the stretch

The Sixers will take their “W” from Sunday and move on. After winning the previous three games by an average of 32.3 points, they survived a nail-biter, and that might prove beneficial.

“It is good to have some close end-of-game situations,” said Seth Curry, who scored 22 points and hit all six of his three-point attempts. “We haven’t been in this situation in a while as a full team, so we are going to look at the film and figure some stuff out for down the line.”

Since returning after missing four games because of illness, Ben Simmons has been playing at a high level. Keith Pompey writes that Simmons, however, will be judged on what he does in the postseason.

Pompey writes that Rivers wants to win games and give his players proper rest. Lately, he has been able to do both.

Dwight Howard has been getting a little more of an offensive mentality recently.

The Sixers are playing a lot of depleted teams. Pompey writes that the real test will come when the playoffs arrive.

Pompey has the details of Sunday’s overtime win in San Antonio.

That San Antonio was so competitive vs. the Sixers without four starters and coming off one of the toughest losses an NBA team has had to endure is simply amazing.

On Friday, the Spurs lost a 143-140 overtime decision at Boston. San Antonio led by as many as 32 points in the second quarter and 31 in the third.

The game included a career-high 60 points by Boston All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, including 21 in the fourth quarter and another 10 in overtime.

Tatum tied Larry Bird’s franchise single-game record of 60 points. Tatum shot 20-for-37 from the floor, including 5-for-7 from three-point range, and 15-for-17 from the foul line.

It was the second time in April that Tatum had scored more than 50 points. He had 53 in a 145-136 overtime win over Minnesota on April 9.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Dwight Howard getting a little more of an offensive mentality

Bird and Tatum are the only players in Celtics history to score 50 or more points more than once. Tatum’s two times were this year, and Bird achieved it four times in his career.

This season, a player has scored 50 or more points 13 times. Three players have scored 60 or more.

Golden State’s Stephen Curry had 62 points in a 137-122 home win over Portland, and Bradley Beal scored 60 in a 141-136 loss to the Sixers at the Wells Fargo Center.

Monday: Sixers at Chicago Bulls, 9 p.m., United Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus

Wednesday: Sixers at Houston Rockets, 8 p.m., Toyota Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia

Friday: New Orleans Pelicans at Sixers, 7 p.m., Wells Fargo Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus

Saturday: Detroit Pistons at Sixers, 8 p.m. Wells Fargo Center, NBC Sports Philadelphia Plus

May 11: Sixers at Indiana Pacers, 8 p.m., Bankers Life Fieldhouse, NBC Sports Philadelphia

Question: What are you going to do when the Knicks kick your sorry (butts) out of the playoffs? — Peter Perrota on Facebook

Answer: A little bit of smack from Peter. As of right now, the Sixers and Knicks would meet if both win first-round playoff series. The Sixers won the head-to-head series this year, 3-0, but the last two were close.

Here are the games:

Dec. 26 at NY, 109-89

March 16 in Philadelphia, 99-96

March 21 at NY, 101-100 OT

The Knicks are a tough defensive team, but it’s difficult to see them having enough firepower to hang with the Sixers. If the two teams meet in the postseason, I would think the Knicks would have trouble winning more than one game.

Send questions by email to mnarducci@inquirer.com or @sjnard on Twitter.