Daily News | Sixers-Raptors takeaways: James Harden displays selfless leadersip, Matisse Thybulle is far from same player
, Harden could have tried to go for 50 points against the Raptors . Instead, the three-time scoring champion willingly took a back seat to Maxey, who was rolling.“Basically what he did was drag the whole team with him and pass the ball and let our guys attack,” coach Doc Rivers said of Harden. “That’s hard to do all game. And he did that.”Thybulle showed exactly why the Sixers made a mistake by only playing him an average of 1.5 minutes through the first five games.
“So I mean, honestly, to be able to sit here and be proud of myself feels really good. And to sit in the locker room and give myself my flowers and say, ‘Yeah, you did the work and you trusted it and were able to let it come through during the game.’ ”The fourth-year swingman’s presence was also noticeable in what was the Sixers’ best defensive performance of the season. With Thybulle leading the charge, Philly played with more energy than in the first five games.
The Sixers forced 17 Toronto turnovers, held the Raptors to 9-for-39 three-point shooting and piled up a lot of deflections.