There are not many players in the NBA who can do what Matisse Thybulle does for the Philadelphia 76ers. Not many can have a huge impact on a game without scoring a point as Thybulle can.
In Sunday’s 117-96 win over the Washington Wizards, Thybulle went scoreless after missing his only shot. That shot did not come until the fourth quarter when the game was already decided, and the Sixers were in garbage time.
Thybulle finished with zero points, four rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. The stat line is unimpressive, but the defensive standout from Washington had a plus-29 while on the floor, and he harassed Wizards guard Spencer Dinwiddie all night long.
“He was a plus-29,” said coach Doc Rivers. “Everyone is not a scorer. You need offensive linemen, whatever you want to call him, Matisse was that for us tonight. He made some big plays for us. He was important. I thought he harassed Dinwiddie and that’s not easy. We’ll take what he did all day.”
Thybulle understands his role and fulfills it to the fullest. He will never score a ton of points, but he does his job to perfection and he makes a big impact because of it.
“He just gives us a guy who’s extremely sound all-around,” said Tobias Harris. “He only took one shot, we probably could have found him on a couple different plays, but he just understands what his best attribute is and he does that at an extremely high level and use that to disrupt their offense with his defense.”
His effort on Sunday was huge; he slowed Dinwiddie after his hot start. Tyrese Maxey had a tough time defending Dinwiddie, but Thybulle made life tough on him. That type of impact is how he ended up being a plus-29 despite the lack of scoring.
“Whether he was guarding Spencer out there and to really have a body on him all night was big for us,” Harris added. “Matisse’s energy all throughout, he’s always in the correct spot offensively as well so he gives us that type of spacing on the floor. Just his hustle is huge for our group. Zero points, but plus-29 is impressive for sure.”
This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!
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