Joel Embiid’s 30 points — and clutch steal — in return from foot injury lift Sixers to 104-101 victory over Atlanta Hawks

Trae Young attempted to loft a pass inside as the final seconds ticked down, but Joel Embiid leapt into the air to swat the ball into his own grasp to preserve a one-point advantage.

Embiid’s clutch steal with 7 seconds to play — which complemented his 30 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and two blocks in his return from a foot injury — lifted the 76ers to a 104-101 victory over the Atlanta Hawks Monday night at the Wells Fargo Center.

“I just tried to play a cat-and-mouse game,” Embiid said of that defensive play on the All-Star Young. “I had him thinking he had a wide-open lob while, at the same time, I knew I was giving that space for a reason. I watch a lot of games. ... I was just trying to bait him, and it did work.”

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It was another impressive victory for the still-shorthanded Sixers (12-9), who rallied from a 16-point first-half deficit in their fifth game in seven nights to set up the down-to-the-wire finish. It was their seventh victory in their past nine games, which have all been played with at least Embiid, James Harden, or Tyrese Maxey — and sometimes all three — out due to injury.

“We’ll take any win, but wins like that are important, in my opinion,” said Tobias Harris, who finished with 24 points on an efficient 10-of-18 shooting and 10 rebounds. “Because it’s a game that we could have easily just said, ‘Hey, it’s a back-to-back. We don’t have it. Whatever.’

“But we were still in it. We were still fighting, and we had a lot of great efforts from a lot of guys.”

After a pull-up jumper by the Hawks’ Dejounte Murray gave his team a 100-97 lead with less than two minutes remaining, Embiid followed with a spinning finish and, after the Sixers’ defense forced a shot-clock violation, he hit the go-ahead jumper with 18.6 seconds to play. Following his steal on Young, Embiid sank three free throws in the final 4 seconds to help create the final scoring margin.

The Sixers briefly took an 80-77 lead on a corner three-pointer by Georges Niang late in the third, then again on two consecutive buckets by Harris and a driving layup by Matisse Thybulle to make the score 91-88 with 8 minutes, 28 seconds remaining. Both teams went back and forth after that.

One night after blasting the Orlando Magic by 30 points, the Sixers struggled offensively to start Monday’s game. They shot less than 40% for much of the first half to fall into that 16-point deficit. Guards Shake Milton and De’Anthony Melton, who have filled in admirably for Harden and Maxey, went a combined 12-of-32 from the floor for the game.

The Sixers immediately go back on the road for their next three games at the Cleveland Cavaliers Wednesday, the Memphis Grizzlies Friday, and the Houston Rockets next Monday.

Unsurprisingly, the Sixers’ trajectory largely mirrored that of their MVP contender.

Embiid scored 11 fourth-quarter points, making two of his three shot attempts and going 7-of-8 from the free-throw line, to push his team to the win.

Yet long before those crucial down-the-stretch plays, Embiid missed his first four shots as the Sixers fell into their double-digit hole. Embiid and coach Doc Rivers said the All-NBA center was trying to get teammates involved, possibly to a fault.

“We want [Embiid to be a playmaker], but we want him to get involved, too,” Rivers said. “He’s pretty good, and so I thought, as the game went on, he warmed up to that and trying to find the right mix.” Rivers said.

A nifty move to the bucket to finish a layup about midway through the second quarter signaled that Embiid was gaining rhythm. Then he scored six points in a two-minute burst to end the first half, including a one-footed floater to cap a 17-5 Sixers run to slice the Hawks’ advantage at the break to four points.

After missing his first two shots of the third quarter, Embiid’s jumper around the four-minute mark cut the Hawks’ lead to 75-70, before a spinning finish through contact for the old-fashioned three-point play tied the score at 77.

And in crunch time, the Sixers kept leaning on their two-man game with Embiid and Milton, who finished with 21 points. When asked, Embiid said he was not surprised the Hawks did not try to double-team him more often.

“At the elbow or the nail, If you want to double, good luck,” Embiid said. “Someone is going to be wide open, and I have a better vision of the whole floor depending on where they’re doubling from.”

On an inconsistent offensive night, Harris remained a bright spot throughout Monday’s outing. It was the latest in a string of excellent performances for Harris, who has scored at least 19 points in each of his past five games while carrying more of the offensive load without Harden and Maxey.

“With guys out, the basketball reaches my hands a lot more throughout the offense,” Harris said. “For me, it’s just [my mindset] to be efficient and make the right plays and continue to find a groove. Those are all things I’ve always had in my game. Now, with this type of opportunity, I just look to continue to be steady with it and do what I can to help our team win.”

The veteran forward hit two of the fourth quarter’s more important shots, a go-ahead hook shot and then a desperation three-pointer at the end of the shot clock to give the Sixers an 89-88 advantage with about nine minutes to play.

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Harris made four of his first five shots to finish with nine points in the opening frame. After he checked back in during the second period, he hit a tough jumper through contact for the and-one to help spark the Sixers’ surge to end the first half.

In the third quarter, Harris buried a three-pointer at the top of the key early to cut his team’s deficit to 57-54, then finished inside to temporarily quell a burst by Young that briefly propelled the Hawks’ lead back to double digits.