What does the Sixers’ performance in Game 6 project for Game 7? Well, probably nothing. | Bob Ford

By the end of the third quarter Thursday night, after the Toronto Raptors had taken one last half-hearted run at the Sixers only to see their deficit drift back to 20 points, it was obvious both teams got what they apparently wanted from the evening: a Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semifinals Sunday in Toronto.

The Sixers got it out of desperation, playing fearlessly for the life of their season; and the Raptors got it by default, playing as if they always felt the comforting weight of the deciding home game in their back pockets.

While we await the report that Joel Embiid is feeling well enough Sunday to extend his arms and airplane the team to a safe landing, or that he has contracted dengue fever, it’s worth reflecting on what a strange series this has been. Those who feel confident in the outcome of the final game should check themselves at the door. It hasn’t been that kind of series.

“It’s been two, two, and two, right?” said Toronto coach Nick Nurse, who at 51 shouldn’t be appending the millennial interrogative to every answer. But he has two small children at home, and another half-dozen on his roster, so perhaps he can be forgiven.

In any case, he is correct. There have been two games the Sixers couldn’t lose, two games the Raptors couldn’t lose, and two games that were up for grabs. If either team had the consistency or resolve to fight through to the end of both of the uncertain outcomes, then the series would be over.

It is not, however, and these teams are evenly matched in their occasionally maddening habits, if nothing else. This series might never end if the Sixers or Raptors had to win by two, so it’s a good thing that Sunday will make them decide which it will be.

Thursday’s Game 6 probably can’t be used as a template for the final game, although the 76ers would like that, because none of the games has followed the form of the previous game.

The Sixers did something that is very difficult for them, however, and that is playing an effective transition game with Embiid on the court. Replicating that would be a good idea, because coach Brett Brown made very clear that he is going to put Embiid on the court for every healthy opportunity the big center gives him.

It’s fine to label Ben Simmons the “bell ringer” of the night, and he did stir himself to turn in a very good performance, or to admire the force of will that is Jimmy Butler. But Embiid, at his best, is always what the other team does not have.

Embiid had played 33 minutes, 7 seconds when he came out of the game with 9:18 left in the fourth quarter and the Sixers up by 23 points. That means he had been off the court at that juncture for only 5 minutes, 35 seconds of the game. The Sixers had not scored a single point with him on the bench, and didn’t until Tobias Harris made a driving layup with 8:29 to go in the game.

(Somewhat inexplicably, Embiid was brought back in for a couple of minutes midway through the final period with the Sixers still leading by 20. Whether that says something about Brown’s general nervousness, something about Embiid, or just something about Greg Monroe is open to discussion, but it was odd for a team that has a mere five centers, one of whom is, in fact, Amir.)

The chicken-and-egg of the Sixers’ transition success is that it flowed, quite naturally, out of Toronto misses at the other end. It would be nice to attribute that to great defense, but the Raptors essentially got the same wide-open perimeter looks they did in Game 5, when they made 40 percent of their three-point attempts and won easily.

Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol, and Danny Green — the guys who can get those open shots thanks to the need to double-team Kawhi Leonard — combined to shoot 10-for-19 on three-pointers in Game 5. Thursday, with the very same excellent opportunities, the Raptors shot 25 percent from deep, and Siakam, Gasol, and Green were 4-for-17. This has to make Nick Nurse crazy, right?

It is, however, a make-and-miss league, and that’s part of it. Perhaps having the insurance of a deciding game at home fuzzed the focus of the Raptors. Perhaps the Sixers’ energy made settling into Game 6 an impossibility. Perhaps it was the constant presence of the big guy, fully healed apparently and stomping around like Colossus, as he posted a ridiculous plus-40 when on the court.

Who knows? All we know after six games of this series is that it meant nothing aside from getting to the next game, which was everything. There is no carryover. There is nothing to learn. There is only Game 7 in a series that is 2-2-2, and that should be enough for everyone.