Matisse Thybulle may not have been one of the finalists for the Defensive Player of the Year Award — those honors went to teammate Ben Simmons, Jazz center Rudy Gobert, and Warriors forward Draymond Green — but that doesn't mean his name shouldn't be mentioned in the same company. In fact, given how much he's able to accomplish in a somewhat limited role, he may be the most impactful defender that the entire league has to offer. His regular season stats shouldn't draw many arguments against that claim, but if they do, then his performance in Game 2 of the first round of the playoffs should quiet any skeptics.
It's not like he wasn't great defensively in the first game — he finished with a pair of steals and a pair of blocks in just under 14 minutes played — and that performance was one that put him in a group with some pretty good players. In fact, there are only 14 guys, Thybulle included, who had two of each in under 15 minutes played in a postseason setting (via Stathead).
However, there are some players on that list who aren't exactly renowned for their defensive prowess. Not everyone can just casually stumble across a couple of steals and blocks in a 15-minute playing session, but that could potentially be the result of extreme luck.
What Thybulle did in the following game of the series, however, can't be chalked up to luck. In just under 20 minutes of play, Thybulle had not just two steals and two blocks. He had not just three steals and three blocks. The second-year phenom had four steals and five blocks against the poor Wizards, helping the Sixers to a commanding 25-point victory. Let's see how many players have done that in playoff history, regardless of time spent on the floor (via Stathead):
So we have Hakeem Olajuwon, Ben Wallace and Draymond Green as the three players on the list that have accomplished this feat multiple times. Combined, the three of them have seven Defensive Player of the Year Awards and 20 appearances on an All-Defensive roster. The rest of the list is made up of a few fellas you may have heard of — Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kevin Garnett, Kawhi Leonard, Scottie Pippen... you know, just some solid players who have been around the block a few times.
And then you take a look at how many minutes were played in each instance of four steals and five blocks. There's Thybulle, sitting at just 19 minutes and 54 seconds. Every other player on the list? At least 35 minutes of action, with the majority of four-steal, five-block games coming as a result of 40 or more minutes of floor time. In fact, Thybulle is the only NBA player ever with four steals and five blocks in fewer than 20 minutes played, regardless of whether the performance came in the regular season or in the playoffs (h/t Reuben Frank).
Just imagine how much defensive havoc Thybulle would be able to wreak if he had a full workload... though that might also hamper the 76ers on the offensive side. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and so far the Sixers' plan in deploying Thybulle has worked pretty darn well.
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