Tag: Matisse Thybulle

Player grades: Bulls hold off short-handed Sixers behind Zach LaVine

The Chicago Bulls were able to top the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers behind Zach LaVine.

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers were looking to sweep this quick three-game homestand on Friday before heading out on the road for one game. The Chicago Bulls were standing in the way of that hope and the Sixers had to go to battle without the injured Joel Embiid to boot.

The Sixers built a 13-point lead behind some strong 3-point shooting, but the Bulls battled back behind a steady dose of their size as well as Zach LaVine and they were able to rally for a 126-112 victory. LaVine had 41 points and six assists while knocking down 11 triples to lead Chicago while Nikola Vucevic took advantage of no Embiid by going for 19 points, 18 rebounds, and 10 assists.

Tyrese Maxey had 26 points and six assists to lead Philadelphia, Tobias Harris had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and James Harden added 17 points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds. Montrezl Harrell hopped off the bench and had 17 points while De’Anthony Melton added nine points while Georges Niang added another 12.

Here are the player grades following the loss at home:

Doc Rivers explains why Matisse Thybulle is playing more for Sixers

Doc Rivers explains why Matisse Thybulle is playing more recently for the Philadelphia 76ers.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers have a logjam of players who play the wing position off the bench: Matisse Thybulle, Danuel House Jr. and Furkan Korkmaz. Therefore, coach Doc Rivers has had to make some tough decisions with his rotations to find the right combination.

To begin the season, Thybulle was used more for defensive purposes. His minutes were up and down while House Jr. received the majority of the minutes.

As Rivers has done with the backup center position in terms of guys being in and out backing up Joel Embiid, Thybulle has gotten his turn to play and he has been very helpful.

After he played 21 minutes in Wednesday’s win over the Indiana Pacers, the Sixers are 8-0 when Thybulle plays at least 20 minutes in a game.

“I think Matisse is playing terrific defense and it’s really helped us,” said Rivers. “He’s staying aggressive. Indiana was smart. They started trapping because they knew he was on the floor. We had to get him off, but overall he’s been fantastic for us.”

The Sixers have been preaching that the 2022-23 season is a “we season, not a me season” so this is all about having a mentality of just staying ready when the time calls for it. While a guy like House Jr. will get another opportunity, at the moment, Thybulle is playing well and deserves the playing time. The Sixers are a plus-13.2 with him on the floor per Cleaning the Glass.

On the offensive end, a lot of people focus on his 3-point shooting, and he’s actually shooting 34.9% from deep on the season on limited attempts, but his movement off the ball has been helpful.

He’s so athletic, and he has understood the art of cutting. Any time a defender moves his head and takes his eyes off Thybulle, that is when he’s going to the basket for a layup. The defense then reacts and it opens up looks for others on offense.

“I feel like a lot of people don’t notice it, but the way I move and cut on the floor gets a lot of other people shots so I think I do it a lot,” said Thybulle. “It just goes, as you can say, unnoticed.”

Thybulle has stayed ready and he has taken advantage of the opportunity put in front of him.

“I think a lot of guys, even Danuel House, like a lot of guys — we said it in training camp, we got a pretty solid roster to where throughout the course of a long year, guys are gonna get left out for a couple games at a time,” added James Harden. “An injury or a guy goes down, then you’re name is called so Matisse is one of those guys who just stuck with it.”

Harden’s words go back to the theme the Sixers want to use with the team-first mentality.

“He might not play one game and tonight (Wednesday), he made some shots and cuts, and defensively he’s being Matisse,” Harden added. “That’s our team in a nutshell.”

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James Harden took Pacers singling him out on defense personally in win

Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden took it personally that the Indiana Pacers were singling him out on the defensive end.

PHILADELPHIA — When one thinks of Philadelphia 76ers star James Harden, they automatically go to his offense. He is a brilliant offensive player who can score at will, set his teammates up and take over a game in the blink of an eye.

However, in Wednesday’s 129-126 overtime win over the Indiana Pacers, Harden affected the game with his defense. He was switched onto rising star Tyrese Haliburton, and The Beard did a really good job of keeping him in check.

Harden was a big reason Haliburton had just two points in the fourth quarter and overtime. The Pacers were hunting Harden on that end, and he stepped up to the challenge. He took it personally that they singled him out when he was on defense.

“For sure,” said Harden. “They got me one time, but if a guy is up there dribbling the ball 15 times, I feel like I’m on an island, so I just had to man up and get some stops. I think I did a solid job.”

Harden also made a huge defensive play late. After he missed two free throws with the Sixers only up one, he had a huge block on Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin that helped preserve the win.

“I had to make up for it,” Harden said. “Uncharacteristic. I missed two free throws. I had to make a stop and try and I tried to make a play on the ball, but they play extremely fast. I know they’re the No. 1 pace team in the league, but out there playing against them, there’s no time off. There’s no relax, breaks, or anything.”

Matisse Thybulle, the team’s best perimeter defender, gave Harden his props for reading the scouting report and making a big impact on the defensive end in the win.

“James read the scouts and played perfectly,” said Thybulle. “We knew Tyrese was gonna try and get right and James would just not let him get right and then when he tried to, he was really physical with him. It was incredible. It was really good defense.”

The Sixers knew Haliburton wanted to go right while Buddy Hield likes to go left. That was something coach Doc Rivers wanted to preach to his guys throughout the entire process.

“It’s funny, the league is very much over-scouted like you really know tendencies,” said Rivers. “I thought tonight (Wednesday) might have been our single best night of taking guys off their tendencies. Haliburton right, wants to go right, wants to go right. Buddy Hield wants to go left, wants to go left, and they did that. I thought that was really good. That helped us defensively.”

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Multiple Sixers single out Montrezl Harrell after they knock off Pacers

The Philadelphia 76ers single out Montrezl Harrell after the overtime win over the Indiana Pacers.

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers needed somebody to step up in the paint with Joel Embiid out due to a left foot injury. The big fella has been dealing with soreness in that foot and the Sixers decided to give him a night off against the Indiana Pacers.

After Philadelphia saw a 13-point lead slip away, they were able to recover and win it in overtime 129-126 for their third straight win. The Sixers received a lot of good production up and down the roster, but the biggest night came from Montrezl Harrell.

The veteran big man had 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting and he had five rebounds and four blocks on the night. He was terrific on both ends and he received a lot of love from his teammates for his performance.

Player grades: James Harden leads Embiid-less Sixers past Pacers

James Harden stepped up and led the Joel Embiid-less Philadelphia 76ers past the Indiana Pacers at home.

PHILADELPHIA — The Philadelphia 76ers entered Wednesday’s contest with the Indiana Pacers a little short-handed.

Joel Embiid sat out due to left foot soreness, and the Sixers had to find a way to overcome that loss against a hot Pacers team that entered the night riding a four-game winning streak.

Employing a three-guard lineup with James Harden, Tyrese Maxey and De’Anthony Melton, the Sixers came away with a 129-126 overtime win for their third straight victory.

Harden had 26 points, eight assists and five rebounds to lead the way for Philadelphia. Melton added 19 points and six rebounds. Tobias Harris had 19 and 10 rebounds. Maxey had 17 points and six assists. Montrezl Harrell provided a huge lift off the bench. He had 19 points on 8-for-9 shooting with four blocks while providing some size against the Pacers. Shake Milton had 13 points and Georges Niang added 11.

Here are the player grades following the win:

New Year’s resolutions for each Philadelphia 76ers player

With the new year, it’s time to give a New Year’s resolution to each player on the Philadelphia 76ers.

The year 2022 for the Philadelphia 76ers was one of transition. They made a big deal in February to acquire a future Hall of Famer in James Harden in order to team him up with Joel Embiid and the Sixers saw the rise of Tyrese Maxey into a borderline All-Star player, already.

As the Sixers now move forward with  2023, their plan is still the same: bring home the Larry O’Brien trophy for the first time since 1983.

Right now, millions of Americans are making New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, get into shape, make more money or simply find love and happiness. Here are some new year’s resolutions for each player on the Sixers roster that, if fulfilled, could help them finally make that championship run.

Player grades: Joel Embiid, Sixers knock off Pelicans in the rematch

Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers were able to come away with a win over the New Orleans Pelicans in the rematch at home.

PHILADELPHIA–The Philadelphia 76ers returned home on Monday from a four-game road trip to play host to the New Orleans Pelicans looking for some revenge. These two teams met on Dec. 30 in the bayou with the Pelicans coming away with the win so the Sixers were looking to even the score.

The Pelicans offered a tough challenge as Zion Williamson is one of the elite scorers in the league and CJ McCollum is a terrific playmaker, but Philadelphia used a steady dose of Joel Embiid in order to come away with a 120-111 win. Embiid had 42 points and 11 rebounds to go along with five assists to lead the Sixers to this win.

James Harden had 27 points and eight assists, Georges Niang added 15 off the bench, Tyrese Maxey had 12 points, and Tobias Harris added five and six rebounds. De’Anthony Melton also added 11 points.

Here are the player grades after the win:

One thought on every Philadelphia 76ers player 2 months into the season

Here is one thought on every Philadelphia 76ers player 2 months into the 2022-23 season.

The calendar has flipped to 2023 and that means the 2022-23 season is 2.5 months old. The Philadelphia 76ers are 35 games into their season and they are sitting at 21-14 as the No. 5 seed in the East. Not exactly where most saw the Sixers at this stage of the season, but the East is competitive and Philadelphia has dealt with a lot.

The Sixers have been dealing with a slew of injuries as Joel Embiid, James Harden, and Tyrese Maxey have all missed time, but they have gotten solid play up and down the roster in order to succeed as much as they have.

With a new month set to begin, here is one thought on every Sixers player heading into January:

Player grades: Tobias Harris, short-handed Sixers beat up on Thunder

Tobias Harris and the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers blow out the Oklahoma City Thunder to end their road trip.

The Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the Paycom Center on Saturday night to take on the Oklahoma City Thunder looking to end their four-game road trip on the right note. They had lost their previous two games on the trip and were looking to go 2-2 on this trip.

They would have to do it short-handed as they were missing James Harden, Tyrese Maxey, and PJ Tucker all due to injury management. It didn’t matter as Philadelphia built a large 33-point lead in the first half on their way to a 115-96 win over the Thunder. Tobias Harris was a perfect 7-for-7 in the first half and had 23 points for the game for Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid had 16 points, 13 rebounds, and 10 assists, and four blocks Shake Milton had 18 points and five assists in a start, De’Anthony Melton added 17 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, and Matisse Thybulle drew a start and scored nine points. Montrezl Harrell added nine points and six rebounds while Danuel House Jr. had eight and five rebounds off the bench.

Here are the player grades following the win to close out the 2022 calendar year:

Player grades: CJ McCollum, Pelicans hand Sixers a 2nd straight loss

CJ McCollum and the New Orleans Pelicans hand Joel Embiid and the Philadelphia 76ers a 2nd straight loss on this road trip.

After a loss in Washington D.C. on Tuesday, the Philadelphia 76ers paid a visit to the bayou on Friday looking to bounce back against the New Orleans Pelicans. The Pelicans are no slouch as they entered the night tied for the No. 1 seed in the West and they showed why they’ve been having success in this one.

The Sixers opened up a 10-point lead in the first quarter thanks to Joel Embiid, then the Pelicans stormed back and led by as many as 17 and led for the majority of the second half on their way to a 127-116 win. CJ McCollum went bonkers and had 42 points on a career-high 11 3-pointers made while Zion Williamson had 36 points. The 11 triples by McCollum are also a New Orleans franchise record.

Joel Embiid was once again dominant as he led the Sixers with 37 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, James Harden had 20 points and 10 assists, De’Anthony Melton had 11 points, and Tobias Harris had 14 and five rebounds. Georges Niang added eight and Tyrese Maxey made his return from an 18-game injury absence to have nine points.

Here are the player grades following the loss: