Death, taxes, and Stephen Curry raining hellfire on your team. For the longest time, NBA fans accepted that these three things are certain in life. We got accustomed to Curry torturing defenders with his scoring escapades. When the Golden State Warriors visited the Philadelphia 76ers, we expected the same thing to happen. We did not expect, though, Matisse Thybulle.

Sixers fans have long preached the gospel of Matisse. He earned second team All-Defense honors in his sophomore season, but everyone in Philly knew that this long-limbed Australian forward could be so much more than that. Against a Warriors team awaiting for their star to break the record, Matisse Thybulle showed us his immense DPOY-level potential.

Matisse Thybulle started the game on Stephen Curry, as everyone predicted. Everyone was waiting for Curry to start chipping away at the 3PT record… but it never came. The Warriors star only shot 6 of 20 from the field, and 3 of 14 from downtown. The primary culprit: Philadelphia's favorite Australian basketball player, Thybulle.

Against Thybulle, Curry was helpless. The Warriors star shot an atrocious 2-of-13 from the field when guarded by the Sixers wing. Against every other Sixers defender, Curry was 4-of-7. This isn't getting shut down, this is being locked up in an Australian jail cell and having the key thrown into the Pacific Ocean.

The biggest asset Thybulle has on defense is his length. At six-foot-five with a near seven-foot wingspan, the Sixers wing is the prototypical ace defender in today's NBA. His length alone would be enough to slow down most players. Combine that with his preternatural defensive IQ, and you've got a DPOY-caliber defender in Matisse Thybulle.

All of his biggest assets were in full display against the Warriors. The Sixers wing harrassed Curry on and off the ball, not giving him an inch of space to work with. When he inevitably did get a shot off, Thybulle's long limbs were there to contest and deter the shot. The result was a defensive masterclass against one of the greatest shooters of all-time.

The icing on top of the cake? Matisse Thybulle was able to block not just one, but TWO of Stephen Curry's three-point attempts. Curry's legendary trait is his quick release jumper that makes it difficult for opponents to block his shots. Against Thybulle, that quick release meant absolutely nothing. The Sixers ace defender became just the first player to block two of Curry's three-point attempts in the regular season. (via The Athletic)

Thybulle's exploits on defense earned the respect of Warriors head coach Steve Kerr, who said that the Sixers forward did a hell of a job on Stephen Curry.

After the game, Sixers star Joel Embiid jumped in on the Matisse Thybulle hype train. He praised his teammate and made a bold prediction about his DPOY chances.

“I think he has the chance to be the Defensive Player of the Year. He showed that tonight. The way he guarded Steph, I haven’t seen it in a long time,”

The crazy thing is: Joel's not that far off. The Sixers might not get back Ben Simmons from his self-imposed exile. However, they got themselves someone who is just as good as Ben on defense: Matisse Thybulle. The future is bright for this Sixers star: either he develops into one of the best lockdown threats, or he becomes one of the best two-way stars in the league. It can only go up from here for Thybulle.