Matisse Thybulle discusses his new role as Sixers prepare for Raptors

Matisse Thybulle discusses adjusting to his new role as the Philadelphia 76ers prepare for the Toronto Raptors in Round 1.

CAMDEN, N.J.–As the Philadelphia 76ers prepare for the Toronto Raptors, there will be challenges that they need to overcome. The Raptors are a tough team that plays fast and they are a physical bunch that will give anybody trouble.

However, the Sixers will have to combat that with their best perimeter defender, Matisse Thybulle, being a part-time player.

Thybulle will be ineligible to play in Toronto during this series as he is not fully vaccinated and that means he is being pushed to the bench and Danny Green is back in the starting lineup for the sake of continuity.

“It’s kind of been the tale of the season,” said Thybulle. “I’ve gotten in and out of the starting lineup, depending on Danny’s health early in the season and then the second half of the season, I really spent a good chunk in the starting lineup, but there’s nothing that Danny or myself are not used to. Just being adaptable being able to adjust to whatever is needed from us.”

Thybulle started 50 of the 66 games he played during the regular season and he averaged a career-high 1.7 steals and he tied a career-high with 1.1 blocks per game. His presence is important out there for this team’s starting unit due to his defensive acumen.

With Thybulle not being able to play in Toronto, he has a good viewpoint of it as he prepares to be available for home games.

“The same way when you’re coming back from an injury expecting to be able to play and you just have to, I mean, you watch support, you do everything as if you’re part of the team up until the actual playing happens,” he explained. “Being mentally engaged is more than half the battle. So even when you are playing, it’s hard to like stay locked in consistently but yeah, knowing that I’m not gonna be playing, I know what to expect so I can anticipate it and meet it with what I need to do.”

Thybulle and the Sixers will host the Raptors in Game 1 on Saturday at 6 p.m. EDT to begin their playoff series.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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