Sixers’ Jimmy Butler says his Game 7 experience means nothing in unpredictable series against Raptors

TORONTO --With the 76ers and Raptors playing Game 7 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series Sunday in Toronto, everybody is looking for a potential edge.

A popular question among the Sixers before their workout Saturday was whether experience in Game 7′s can help.

Toronto’s players have 21 combined games of experience in Game 7′s, compared with nine by the Sixers. Does it mean anything?

According to Sixers forward Jimmy Butler, nothing at all.

Don’t look for Butler to put any weight on his one previous Game 7.

“I don’t remember it,” Butler said before practice.

It was during his second year with the Chicago Bulls, during the 2013 postseason. Butler, who was still finding his way in the NBA, played all 48 minutes in a 99-93 victory against the Nets in Brooklyn. He finished with nine points, five rebounds, and four assists.

So Butler, who would become a four-time All-Star, won’t exactly be drawing from that Game 7 experience.

“I don’t think it has anything to do with absolutely anything,” he said. “I am at a different point of my career, I am with a different team.”

One thing remains the same in Butler’s mind.

“It is definitely hard to win a Game 7, especially on the road.”

The Sixers staved off elimination Thursday with a 112-101 win, one in which Butler had 19 of his 25 points by halftime, when the Sixers led, 58-43.

Butler cooled off in the second half, and part of that was because the Raptors put All-Star Kawhi Leonard on him.

Does he expect to see more of Leonard guarding him?

“Sure, why not,” Butler said.

While Butler said his Game 7 experience is inconsequential, the same seems to be the case in drawing any conclusions about this series game to game.

Only two of the games were decided by single digits – the Sixers’ 94-89 win in Toronto in Game 2 and the Raptors’ 101-96 victory in Game 4 in Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid, who was a plus-40 in the Sixers’ Game 6 win, was asked if there is any difference in an elimination Game 6 and an elimination Game 7.

“I don’t know,” Embiid said.

Precisely.

That is the thing, nobody really knows, especially in a series that has been as unpredictable and has seen as many wild swings as this one.

That is why in this series, in which very little has gone according to form, it wouldn’t be surprising if an unexpected hero surfaced.

That was certainly the case in Butler’s previous Game 7. Guard Marco Belinelli, (a former Sixer), who averaged 9.6 points during the 2012-2013 regular season, shared game-high scoring honors with 24 points in the Bulls’ win.

Could a 2019 version of Belinelli emerge Sunday?

Last game, Sixers power forward Mike Scott came off the bench to score 11 points, hitting 3 of 4 three-pointers and being plus-29 in just 20 minutes. So he would be a candidate.

He had 15 total points in the three previous games, and 10 came in the Sixers’ 125-89 loss in Game 5.

Again, it’s been a series of wild swings, with Scott just one player who has had his ups and downs after missing the first two games with a heel injury.

Predicting a hero or a winner, however, remains difficult.

The Sixers showed they can win an elimination game, earning them a chance to play another. Beyond that, based on the previous six games, little else is known about how the teams will fare Sunday.