Better to be lucky than good? When it comes to the Sixers, it’s been the case as of recent

So how should the 76ers feel?

How should they feel entering the third contest of a seven-game stretch against struggling teams?

Excited? Eager? Certain?

How about lucky? Yeah, lucky.

Through 21 games, the Sixers (14-7) have established themselves as one of the NBA’s top teams. No question.

But their victories over the woeful and banged Washington Wizards and Atlanta Hawks haven’t been anywhere as dominating as facing teams with combined 12-30 records might suggest.

» READ MORE: Sixers win back-and-forth affair against Trae Young-less Atlanta Hawks

Consider if Joel Embiid doesn’t finish with 50 points, 13 rebounds and seven assists, do the Sixers beat the Wizards, 131-126, Wednesday night at Capital One Arena?

Then, Friday, against the Hawks team without two-time All-Star Trae Young, what happens if Atlanta (9-12) doesn’t struggle through 6 of 21 shooting and eight turnovers in the fourth quarter? Would the Sixers be able to go on their game-defining 15-0 late run to prevail, 125-114, at the Wells Fargo Center?

Philly will play Washington (3-18) again on Monday at The Center. Embiid’s status for that game has yet to be listed. The reigning MVP and league-leading scorer, at 33.1 points per game, played through pain Friday after injuring his left knee in the fourth quarter. The Sixers are 0-3 in games he missed this season.

On paper, they shouldn’t need him to beat the Wizards. You can say the same about their two-game Wednesday (away) and Friday (home) series against the Detroit Pistons, followed by Saturday’s tilt at Charlotte Hornets and Monday’s home game vs. the Chicago Bulls.

The Pistons (2-20), Wizards, Hornets (7-13) and Bulls (9-14) are the worst four teams in the Eastern Conference standings.

Yet, the Sixers didn’t resemble a team that’s capable of taking any opponent lightly in the first two games of this stretch.

A lot of that has to do with their defense. What had been a strong suit at the beginning of the season, the Sixers’ defensive rating now ranks 15th in the NBA at 113.2 points per 100 possessions. In their last three games, the Sixers are 23rd in defensive scoring at 123.7 per game. They’re 18th (113.8) through the season.

» READ MORE: Sixers vs. Atlanta Hawks takeaways: Tyrese Maxey is ‘amazing,’ even on off nights; Kelly Oubre Jr.’s selfless play

A lot of their struggles can be attributed to a revolving rotation due to injuries and illnesses.

“We talk about some of the things that we are trying to do,” coach Nick Nurse said before Friday’s game. “I think there [are] some primary areas … transition [defense], transition rim protection has to improve. I really would like to widen the gap a little bit between our free throws taken (27.8 per game) and free throws given up (23.5). We are way up there for both of them, right?”

But that’s only one of the things the first-year head coach wanted to improve on from last season’s squad. He knows they must do a better job at that.

Nurse also feels the Sixers’ defensive rating will slide in a positive direction over the next 20 games.

“I feel good about a lot of things,” he said. “Even the other night, I felt [the Wizards] were making a bunch of shots. I felt like we were playing as well, and I [went] back and watched the tape. We are doing a lot of things well. … We’re just not finishing off possessions. Things like that would be at the top of my list.”

Yet, they came out and surrendered 45 second-quarter points on 52.9% shooting — including 7 of 15 three-pointers — to the Hawks Friday night.

“It got real funky in the second quarter,” guard Tyrese Maxey said. “There were a couple of times where they caught the ball and just rose up and shot the three. So [Nurse] was kind of just upset with us on that, and they can’t just dribble the ball and rise up and shoot the ball.”

» READ MORE: Sixers coach Nick Nurse believes Tobias Harris is ‘too good’ to stress over recent struggles

The Hawks did more than that in the quarter, having an 8-2 edge in offensive rebounds while turning a 14-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead.

Nurse made some adjustments against the Hawks, who are ranked second in scoring at 122.2 points per game. The most notable modification played third-string center Mo Bamba over Paul Reed at the start of the fourth quarter. While he looked rushed on offense, Bamba provided rim protection and helped to limit the Hawks’ offensive rebounds.

The Sixers also closed out the game with Kelly Oubre Jr., who tallied both of his steals in the fourth.

Maxey woke up in the fourth, scoring 16 of his 30 points. Embiid played like the MVP frontrunner he is during the late 15-0 run, with six points, two rebounds, and two blocks while hobbling and grimacing in pain. The six-time all-star finished with 38 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.

But the Sixers should not have needed a combined 68 points from Embiid and Maxey to battle back to beat the struggling and undermanned Hawks. The same for needing Embiid’s 50-point effort to beat the Wizards, who were tied with the San Antonio Spurs as of Friday for the NBA’s second-worst record.

With no one capable of defending him, that might have been the easiest of Embiid’s six career 50-point performances.

» READ MORE: Deal or no deal? Daryl Morey faces tough decisions as Sixers approach trade season.

Yet, they don’t win without them. And the Sixers don’t beat the Hawks without capitalizing on Altanta’s miscues and late poor shooting. On both nights, the Sixers had a huge talent and depth advantage. They were expected to have outcomes locked up with Embiid resting on the bench in the fourth quarter.

But all victories count the same, regardless of style points. The Sixers can celebrate winning consecutive games. It’s just that, considering the circumstances, the Sixers were lucky.