Doc Rivers Reveals Reason Behind Thybulle's Lack of Minutes vs. Suns

At this point in the year, it's become clear that Philadelphia 76ers' third-year wing Matisse Thybulle has become the team's starting small forward. As Thybulle

At this point in the year, it's become clear that Philadelphia 76ers' third-year wing Matisse Thybulle has become the team's starting small forward.

As Thybulle is easily the Sixers' best perimeter defender, his value on that end makes it hard not to play him despite his glaring limitations on the offensive side of the ball.

Lately, Thybulle's been displaying more value on the offensive end, but there are still times when he disappears in the scoring department.

Sunday's game against the Phoenix Suns was an example of that, but a lack of minutes might've contributed to Thybulle's inability to produce more points.

Going into Sunday night's matchup against the Phoenix Suns, Thybulle has been averaging 25 minutes per game. Against the Suns, the third-year defensive ace saw the court for just 15 minutes. 

Defensively, Thybulle had the opportunity to garner just one block and zero steals. Offensively, he took one shot from the field and went 3-4 from the line, scoring three points. In a game where the Sixers needed everybody to be on, Thybulle hardly contributed in his limited playing time as he scored the fewest points out of any of the starters. 

After the game, Sixers head coach Doc Rivers revealed his reasoning behind having Thybulle play fewer than 20 minutes for the first time since the March 13 matchup against the Orlando Magic.

Thybulle's Lack of Minutes Explained

"He just had the fouls," Rivers said. 

In the first half, Thybulle picked up a foul in each of the two quarters. During his three minutes on the court in the third quarter, Thybulle collected two more.

When the fourth quarter rolled around, Thybulle didn't log a single second on the court, despite having a couple more fouls to give. But Rivers added that it wasn't just about the fouls.

"We had some spacing issues," he continued. "I didn't go with Furk either tonight, and we are trying to stretch our rotation right now to play 10 or 11 even just to get guys in, but it was just not the game tonight. We can win with those guys, too. Matisse's fouls kind of threw the rotations out, so we just didn't tonight. He'll be playing in the future."

Justin Grasso covers the Philadelphia 76ers for Sports Illustrated. You can follow him for live updates on Twitter: @JGrasso_.