Butler, 76ers force Game 7 vs. Raptors
Jimmy Butler lived up to his Jimmy Buckets nickname.
With “Jimmy! Butler!” chants ringing from the rafters, he helped Philadelphia force a seventh game against Toronto in the Eastern Conference semifinals, hitting big baskets in bunches and scoring 25 points in the 76ers’ 112-101 victory over the Raptors in Philadelphia on Thursday night.
“I play to win,” Butler said. “Right now, this is what I have to do in order to give us a great chance at winning.”
Game 7 is Sunday night in Toronto. The Bucks await the winner.
Kawhi Leonard, who scored 30-plus points in the first four games in the series, finally was contained early by the Sixers and scored many of his 29 points well after the game was out of hand.
Leonard and the Raptors had no answers for Butler and All-Star guard Ben Simmons. Simmons scored 21 points — more than his combined total of Games 4 and 5 — and helped show the Sixers still had some fight after a brutal Game 5 loss.
“It was amazing focus. Everybody was locked in,” Simmons said. “We knew what was at stake.”
Joel Embiid had played through a left knee problem and a stomach bug for most of the playoffs and the entire team had reason to be ill after the Raptors crushed the Sixers by 36 in Game 5.
“I knew I had to come in with high spirits,” Embiid said. “If I’ve got to play 45 minutes and push myself out there, that’s what I’ll do.”
Embiid had a burst of energy late in the third when he blocked a driving Leonard, and Simmons capitalized with a basket for an 18-point cushion. Embiid, who gingerly walked into the postgame news conference with his left knee packaged in ice, had 17 points and 12 rebounds in 35 minutes.
Embiid didn’t do much early in Game 6, but Butler and Simmons built some needed separation.
Butler...