Sacramento Kings guard De’Aaron Fox is off to a terrific start in the 2020-21 season. He has been terrific on the offensive end of the floor, he has taken steps forward as a leader, and had just recently won Western Conference Player of the Week.
The Philadelphia 76ers had their hands full with him on Tuesday to begin a 4-game West Coast road trip and it showed early. Fox had 23 points on 9-for-13 shooting and he had seven assists at halftime alone as Sacramento held a 71-66 lead at the half.
Then, things changed in the second half as the Sixers held Fox to just 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting in the final 24 minutes and it was mostly due to the defensive effort, once again, of ace specialist Matisse Thybulle off the bench.
“He was great,” said coach Doc Rivers. “We needed it too. Ben (Simmons) did a good job on him, but Matisse is almost better suited for him and that allowed us to put Ben on someone else like (Harrison) Barnes and (Buddy) Hield. That was a really good adjustment for us.”
Thybulle was the primary defender against Fox in the fourth quarter and he was a big reason why Philadelphia held him to 3-for-13 shooting. It was a suffocating effort defensively after Fox made it look so easy in the first half.
“We know what he’s gonna bring for us defensively on a nightly basis,” said Tobias Harris. “Especially when he’s guarding the opposing team’s best player and whatnot. Matisse was working his tail off. Sticking right with De’Aaron Fox out there. I thought he did a great job of just being in his space and being able to guard him with his speed because Fox is an extremely fast player.”
It is amazing how Thybulle had such a big impact on this game despite not scoring a single point. He went scoreless while playing 21:58 in the game and he didn’t even take a shot, but his defense against Fox was something to behold.
“He knows what he’s capable of,” said Simmons. “We all know so regardless of what he’s doing offensively, defensively he’s a huge part of the team. I look at him sometimes and I say ‘Well, It’s time. It’s time to lock up’ and that’s what he did in that last quarter, which is great. Nobody wants to switch Matisse onto them. It’s tough when he’s out there with me and Danny (Green).”
The Sixers will need more of this type of effort on Thursday when they take on the Portland Trail Blazers with Damian Lillard back out on the floor for them.
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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