The Atlanta Hawks and the Philadelphia 76ers are set to do basketball battle in the second round of the NBA playoffs. Players like Trae Young, Ben Simmons, Joel Embiid, and Bogdan Bogdanovic have received plenty of attention leading in to this series, but Nick Kayal wanted to see who could step up outside of the aforementioned stars.
Kayal was joined by 76ers beat writer Keith Pompey of the Philadelphia Inquirer. When asked who he would identify as the "X-Factor" for the 76ers, without hesitation he pointed out Matisse Thybulle, "Ben Simmons is finalist for Defensive Player of the Year, but Matisse Thybulle should be a First Teamer".
But how does he match up against the Hawks? Pretty well, says Pompey. "Ya know how Trae blows by people and then slows up to draw a foul? Well Matisse is known for letting guys blow by him and then he tracks them down to strip them or block their shot. He has a real long reach and I think that matchup is going to be key."
In the following segment, Nick Kayal gave his take as to who he believes will the "X-Factor" for the Atlanta Hawks, he targeted second-year forward DeAndre Hunter.
"I gotta believe that there will be multiple guys who will defend Ben Simmons and I believe that DeAndre Hunter will be our best chance to kinda keep Simmons in that 13, 8, and 8 range."
But just as important as his defense is, his offense is just as important. "He has got to be a factor offensively... he's going to have to exude so much defensively and we still need him for 10, 12, 14, or 15 points on the other end of the floor offensively."