Not to rain on the Portland Trail Blazers' parade, but their impressive but narrow win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the teams' first-round matchup had a striking blemish. Matisse Thybulle put up quite a stinker. In 10 minutes of game time, he missed all three of his field-goal attempts and had a plus/minus of -22 in a three-point victory.
Unfortunately, Thybulle's offense is so insubstantial that the Blazers were outscored by over 20 points in the relatively short time he was on the floor. If the squad were unable to eke out the 106-103 win, more folks would probably be talking about the veteran swingman's dud of a performance.
Then again, maybe they should.
Matisse becoming borderline unplayable
It's known around the Association that Thybulle is an elite defender but a black hole on the other end. Still, being great at what he does has allowed him to carve a prominent role in Portland's rotation when he was healthy during the regular season.
The playoffs, however, are a different beast. Against an opponent with a top-ranked defense, Thybulle's limited offensive repertoire just becomes more pronounced. That much has been evident in the first two games of the Blazers-Spurs series. He put up just three points in 21 minutes in the opener before laying an egg on Tuesday.
In his defense, the former first-round pick is one of the Blazers' most reliable perimeter stoppers. It was for that reason that he was on the court for San Antonio's final offensive possession of Game 2. He hounded Devin Vassell off a switch, forcing a bad 3-point attempt from the Spurs swingman.
With the way things are going, Thybulle could eventually join the other Blazers who have been kicked to the curb.
Maybe Kris Murray is ready to step up in his stead. Even though he is not as sturdy a defender as Matisse, he has a deeper offensive bag that should help Portland outscore the possibly Victor Wembanyama-less Spurs squad.
Matisse's Rose City future hangs in the balance
If the Blazers and Thybulle cannot solve the problem they are facing now, it's tough to expect the partnership to continue beyond this season. He will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer, and he has to prove worthy of retaining his spot on the roster.
Thybulle's first step toward that goal, if that's what he actually wants, is to outperform expectations in the Blazers' first-round matchup against the Spurs. We'll have to wait for Game 3 to find out if the coaching staff would even consider giving him significant playing time or just shelve him.
The club has a prime opportunity to upset the second seed, especially with Wembanyama, unfortunately, suffering a concussion on Tuesday and in danger of missing multiple contests. For that to happen, the Blazers need every piece of their rotation to contribute and more.
Add us as a preferred source on Google