PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia 76ers guard Matisse Thybulle is not a big offensive player. He focuses on the defensive end of the floor where he is a stud.
However, when playing next to James Harden, it is easier for Thybulle to get some easy baskets.
After going scoreless in two straight games, Thybulle had 12 points on 4-for-5 shooting while knocking down his only 3 in a 121-106 win over the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Philadelphia improved to 8-0 in games he scores in double figures. Playing next to Harden and being a roller off screens has been a good way to get him going.
“I rolled a lot this game,” said Thybulle. “It’s just something that opens up. The way teams play James is pretty unique in how they want to blitz him or force him right or whatever. They throw a lot of things at him and my goal essentially is to force a switch or get his guy off of him and by doing a short roll, it allows to create space and through that, he kind of does what he does.”
When Thybulle moves without the basketball on offense, that is when he is at his best. He clearly is not a great 3-point shooter yet, so the Sixers have to find other ways to make him a threat on the offensive end.
The attention that Harden receives allows Thybulle to cut into the holes of the defense and make big plays on that end by being somebody the defense has to pay attention to.
“Just continuing to learn how to play with him, off of him,” Thybulle added. “He’s teaching me a lot on the fly. Some of the things I pick up, some of them I miss, and it’s just really about me trying to complement him as well as possible because it creates a lot of opportunities, not only for him and myself, but just for the whole team. He sees a lot before it happens, and I’m just trying to keep up.”
“He’s teaching me a lot on the fly. Some things I pick up, some of them I miss. It’s just really about me trying to compliment him as well as possible. He sees a lot before it happens, and I’m just trying to keep up”
-Matisse Thybulle on James Harden
pic.twitter.com/yT0A6VuEg6— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) March 8, 2022
Despite the early promise, the Thybulle-Harden pairing still has a long way to go to figure each other out and grow together as the team moves forward.
“We just have to see the situations and let them play out,” Thybulle said. “The better feel I get for him, the more I can anticipate what he’s gonna look for and do that. You could say sit down and watch film, but things get really different when you’re in the heat of battle and things are flying a million miles an hour.”
Thybulle needs to continue playing with the superstar guard to get a better feel for everything.
“I think it’s just the same situation for me as one of those other ones,” he finished. “Just continuing to play with each other and get a feel for how this whole thing melts together.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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