The Philadelphia 76ers entered the final day of the season tied with the Boston Celtics for the Atlantic Division title. Both teams won, however, the Celtics own the tie-breaker. Therefore, the Sixers will open the playoffs as the #4 seed in the eastern conference. Their opponent will be the Toronto Raptors. That creates a rather large problem for the Sixers, as road games will be north of the border.

Unvaccinated players are not allowed to cross the border into Canada. Well, Sixers' defensive stalwart Matisse Thybulle is now ineligible to play for Game 3 and Game 4 of the series in Toronto, according to The Athletic's Shams Charania.

The Raptors are already one of the hottest teams in the league entering the playoffs. So, this series was going to be difficult for the Sixers already. It will be even more so without their best defensive player.

Thybulle posted 1.1 steals and 1.8 blocks per game this season for the Sixers. His blocks rank tied for 4th in the NBA with New York Knicks center Mitchell Robinson. But Thybulle does it as a shooting guard, making his varied skill set that much more valuable.

Meanwhile, the Raptors quietly play their best when their best is needed. As of March 23rd, the Raptors owned the best record against the league's top teams.

Since then, Toronto has added wins against the Celtics and the Sixers. Philadelphia's loss to the Raptors last week ultimately cost them winning the Atlantic Division. Thybulle was not able to play in that game either, for the same reason he cannot play in Toronto for the playoffs.