Philadelphia 76ers should start Matisse Thybulle vs. Celtics
Matisse Thybulle should start for the Philadelphia 76ers against the Boston Celtics.
The Philadelphia 76ers are in a bad place without All-Star Ben Simmons. One of Simmons’ talents is being one of the best and versatile defenders in the NBA. With the Sixers entering a playoff series against the Boston Celtics who have several elite scorers on the perimeter, Simmons was going to key in a first-round upset. Without him, the 76ers only have one other option on the roster who has the potential to be elite defensive.
No, it’s not Josh Richardson, who is a very good two-way wing in his own right, it’s actually rookie Matisse Thybulle. My fellow Co-Site expert of The Sixer Sense Christopher Kline recently wrote that Thybulle’s defense is essential in this first round matchup for Philly.
In that article, Kline brought up the idea of starting Thybulle and this is what he wrote about it.
"“I’m close to comfortable in saying the Sixers should start Thybulle over (Al) Horford for defensive purposes.”"
Unlike my colleague, I’m completely comfortable with saying that Thybulle should start over Al Horford. To be clear I’m not bashing Kline’s position, I’m just taking it a step further. There is another reason why beyond what Kline wrote about Thybulle in his article.
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The reason why.
On The Sixer Sense Podcasts, I’ve said that I don’t see Horford getting a lot of minutes against the Celtics. This has to do with matchups. Most of the Celtics power forwards, which is the position that Horford has been starting at since Simmons’ injury, are small-ball power forwards and would be small forwards on most teams.
Horford has looked better in the Disney Bubble, but he’s still lost a step defensively, and guarding players like Gordon Hayward or potentially Jayson Tatum on the perimeter would be bad for the Sixers. Switching Horford out for Thybulle would be in the 76ers favor in this particular matchup.
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Thybulle is the best defender in his rookie class and switching him out for Horford against the perimeter talent of the Celtics would be a wise choice for the Philadelphia 76ers.