DETROIT — The Philadelphia 76ers were short-handed as they paid a visit to the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. Down Joel Embiid and PJ Tucker, they needed others to step up.
They did. The Sixers came away with a rather easy 123-111 win and improved to 24-15. Philadelphia led by as many as 23, and the Pistons never seriously threatened.
While guys like James Harden, Montrezl Harrell and Tyrese Maxey were at the forefront of the win, Matisse Thybulle deserves credit as well. The defensive star out of Washington had five steals off the bench, and he was terrific all around in the win.
“When he’s in passing lanes, he’s contesting shots, he has really good defensive instincts,” said Harden. “He used those. It just helps our team. He was active tonight (Sunday).”
Detroit could not find any easy passing lanes when Thybulle was on the floor. He was constantly jumping the lanes and coming up with steals to go the other way for easy shots.
“At this point, I think they were just passing it to him,” Tyrese Maxey added. “He’s just good. That’s why he’s good at it. He’s good at getting his hands on a lot of deflections, a lot of balls, and stuff like that.”
Thybulle played 22:56 off the bench in the win. That number is significant as Philadelphia improved to 9-0 on the season when he plays over 20 minutes. When he makes an impact as he did in the win over the Pistons, it’s a game-changer for Philadelphia.
[mm-video type=playlist id=01f09kz5ecxq9bp57b player_id=01f5k5xtr64thj7fw2 image=]
[listicle id=73474]
[lawrence-related id=73480,73471,73468]