Game 7 is now necessary.

After looking like complete dog crap in Game 5, the Sixers and their fans embraced the underdog role with the return of the German Shepherd dog masks in Game 6 as Philly forced a Game 7 with a 112-101 win over the Raptors. Kawhi Leonard still led all scorers with 29 points but was faced with plenty of double-teams throughout with only him and Pascal Siakam being Toronto’s key impact players.

On the other end, Jimmy Butler once again dominated with 25 points, eight assists, and six rebounds along with a pair of steals. But he had some complementary help from Ben Simmons and his 21 points, Joel Embiid with 17 points and 12 boards for a double-double, Tobias Harris with 16, and Mike Scott showing up with 11 points and James Ennis’ eight rebounds off the bench.

The Sixers led by as much as 24 in the final quarter in a game that they dominated from start to finish. But a performance like this on Sunday night could mean the season continues for a few more games.

And everyone’s attention does shift to Sunday night at 7 PM on TNT in Toronto. Truly do or die time for the team in their first Game 7 since the 2012 semis against Boston. Winner faces Milwaukee.

The Roundup:

The Eagles signed their entire rookie class as well as 10 undrafted free agents.

The drafted rookies have numbers:

And these guys are the UDFAs:

The Birds have also extended their stadium naming rights with Lincoln Financial until 2032.

The Phillies are in Kansas City this weekend to take on the Royals. Game 1 is tonight with Jake Arrieta taking the mound against Homer Bailey. First pitch is at 8:15 PM on NBC Sports Philadelphia.

For third base coach Dusty Wathan, it’s a trip back home to his baseball roots, from Jim Salisbury of NBC Sports Philadelphia:

But his baseball roots go back to Kansas City. His dad, John, spent 10 years behind the plate for the Royals then managed the club for five seasons. John Wathan still works for the Royals in player development. He will be at this weekend’s series along with Dusty’s mom, Nancy, brother, Derek, and sister, Dina, who is the Royals’ director of alumni relations.

For baseball-loving kids, Dusty and Derek, who played seven seasons in Triple A with five organizations, had a storybook childhood. Their dad played on some great Royals teams that featured exciting talents and personalities such as Brett, Hal McRae and Willie Wilson. The Wathan boys often accompanied their dad to work in the afternoon and got lost in all corners of the stadium with the sons of other Royals players before games.

“We’d play cup-ball under the stands,” Dusty said. “Wad-up an old paper cup and hit it. Cup-ball.”

Once a year, the dads would play the kids before the regular game. The Royals would make sure to schedule it when Ron Luciano, the colorful and comedic former American League umpire, was in town. He’d officiate the game wearing a microphone that was hooked up to the stadium PA system.

“George Brett would always pitch and the game would always end in a brawl,” Dusty said with a laugh. “George would hit one of the older kids and we’d all charge the mound.”

In other sports news, Damian Lillard went off in the third quarter to force a Game 7 for Portland against Denver.

The Bruins defeated the Hurricanes in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference Final series. Also, a Boston radio host hung up on a Hurricanes beat reporter because of his accent. Douche move. Boston continues to be idiots.

The Dolphins gave cornerback Xavien Howard a five-year, $76.5 million deal to make him the NFL’s highest-paid cornerback.

In the news, Dogfish Head was acquired by the Boston Beer Company.

Facebook’s co-founder thinks the government should break up Facebook.