In 2018, a rookie was the driving force behind the Celtics taking down the Sixers in the second round of the playoffs. Jayson Tatum averaged 23.6 points a game as Boston took the series in five.
It’s only fitting that two years later the Sixers may need a rookie to change their luck by guarding Tatum and possibly swinging the series back in their favor — and that rookie should do so in the starting lineup in Game 2.
Matisse Thybulle, playing in his first NBA postseason game Monday night, seemed to be the only Sixer that could slow down Tatum in a 109-101 loss. When Tatum was guarded by Thybulle, he went 2 of 9 for just four points. When he was guarded by anyone else: 8 of 12 for 28 points.
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I think he did a really good job,” Brett Brown said postgame. “I think that as a young player, a rookie to come in and have that type of assignment with really one of the league’s just incredibly improved iso players that can create shots in so many ways, I thought that he did a really good job.
"A few times you wish schematically, without getting into coach speak, that we tried to execute some of the things we were doing a little better. But I thought the discipline he showed of not being lifted, the discipline he showed of just trying to level straight line drives and show his hands and not get in foul trouble, I thought he was excellent.
Ahead of Game 1, Brown admitted that he toyed with the notion of starting Thybulle. It made sense even before the series started given how small and dynamic the Celtics are. It seemed that Brown’s idea was to punish the Celtics’ lack of size by keeping Al Horford as the starting four.
In theory that made sense, but the opposite happened in Game 1. Horford looked out of place trying to guard the likes of Jaylen Brown. And he didn’t make his former team suffer any consequence of being small on the offensive end, going 3 of 7 for six points and turning the ball over three times. Horford was a minus-18 in 31 minutes.
Horford signed a huge a contract this offseason. He’s a five-time All-Star and respected veteran among his teammates and around the league. None of that matters in this series. Horford’s likely best contribution to the Sixers is as Embiid’s backup. The idea of continuing to ask him to defend Boston’s slew of dynamic perimeter players for long stretches seems dubious.
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Last postseason against the Raptors, Jimmy Butler and Ben Simmons both took turns guarding Kawhi Leonard. When Brown saw how effective Simmons was on Leonard, Brown made the decision to stick with that matchup. Perhaps it’s time to insert Thybulle into the starting lineup to shadow Tatum.
Brown wouldn’t commit to any type of changes immediately following the game.
For the most part, short of this starting group, that’s how it plays out,” Brown said. “When you look at [Josh Richardson’s] minutes and Matisse’s minutes, they’re completely mirrored to Kemba [Walker] and Jayson’s. I think that to blow up the starting five in exchange for doing that, I’m not prepared to say that’s what’s going to happen. I look forward to going back and watching the tape and considering that option. But at the moment, I feel like it’s just something I want to think more about, based on what I see on the tape.
Tatum was the No. 3 overall pick in 2017, the Sixers’ original draft slot before trading up to the No. 1 spot and the rights to Markelle Fultz. In 2019, Thybulle was actually a Celtic for a few minutes before the Sixers traded for his rights.
The talent level and the storyline make it one hell of a matchup. Starting in Game 2, we should be seeing it from the opening tip.