It didn’t take long for former Philadelphia 76ers wing Matisse Thybulle to record a defensive highlight during his debut with the Portland Trail Blazers.
Thybulle, who won the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Award while playing in college at the University of Washington, has twice earned NBA All-Defensive Second-Team honors since turning pro.
While his time with the 76ers came to an abrupt end after playing a career-low 12.1 minutes per game thus far this season, Thybulle looked immediately ready to contribute for Trail Blazers’ defensive-minded head coach Chauncy Billups.
During the first quarter of the game against the Los Angeles Lakers, the 25-year-old wing closed out on sharpshooter Malik Beasley. The results, which you can see below, were spectacular:
THYBULLE BLOCK 🚫
The new Blazer sent the fans a souvenir! pic.twitter.com/5c0leYOK8R
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) February 14, 2023
After falling out of Doc Rivers’ regular rotation in Philadelphia, it was great for Portland fans to see Thybulle look so happy after making such a strong impact in his Trail Blazers debut.
At the end of the first half, Thybulle had already recorded 2 blocks and 1 steal. He is one of the league leaders in deflections per 36 minutes.
During each of his past three seasons, per Cleaning the Glass, Thybulle has finished in the 100th percentile among wings in block percentage and steal percentage.
