By Chuck Powers
Sixers coach Doc Rivers was all glass-is-half-full yesterday after practice about Matisse Thybulle, his wing who is unvaxxed and therefore barred from Canada, where as any as three of the games against the Raptors will be played.
Rivers said, “I’ve got to support the kid.”
“As a coach, you’ve got to be a human, too,” Rivers said.
“It just puts you in a tough spot. … I told him I didn’t agree. But I told him I support him, and I will. And I’ll make sure, as much as I can, that his teammates support him. Tough spot for us to be in, but it is what it is.
Thybulle will be able to play in Games 1 and 2 at the Wells Fargo Center. Thybulle is one of the NBA’s best perimeter defenders.
“That’s the one thing, as a staff, we decided,” Rivers said. “We’ll cross Game 3 and 4 when we get to Game 3 and 4. I want to prepare for Game 1 and 2. I don’t want to have a second plan and the distraction of that. We’ll get to Game 3 when we get to Game 3. But the first two games, we are whole, and that’s how we’re going to work.”
