Matisse Thybulle and the Philadelphia 76ers put up a defensive clinic against the Golden State Warriors on Saturday, as the Sixers secured the 102-93 victory, all while limiting prolific shooter Stephen Curry to 6/20 from the field and 3/14 from three. In the process, the Sixers also denied Curry from making basketball history, as he was unable to top Ray Allen's record of total three-pointers made. Thybulle, who himself defended Curry, notched six points (2/5 from the field, 2/3 from three), four rebounds, one assist, and two blocks. Thybulle's two blocks made him the first NBA player to every record multiple blocks against Curry in one night. When asked about his stellar defense on arguably the league's greatest shooter ever, the young defensive maestro had a simple philosophy: “Play hard.”

Simple enough for Thybulle to do, as his performance against theWarriors brought up talks about him possibly being a Defensive Player of the Year candidate. The Sixers guard had more to say in his post-game interview:

“Play hard. But seriously just have guys willing to let me take on that 1-on-1 matchup [against Curry] and play the rest of the team 4-on-4 and be able to over-rotate and get into a lot of honestly really tough rotation situations on defense and put out a lot of fires to allow me to stay close to [Curry's] body and not let Steph get anything easy.”

The video of the interview can be accessed via Tom Moore's Twitter:

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The Australian defensive juggernaut has forged a reputation for himself as one of the league's peskiest on-ball and off-ball defenders, as over the season, he has recorded 1.2 blocks and 1.8 steals per game, complemented by 5.7 points, 1.1 assists, and 2.3 rebounds per game.

Matisse Thybulle definitely had one of his most impressive defensive showings against Curry and the Warriors, and whether or not it's evident on the stat sheet is largely unimportant, as the Sixers faithful have come to value Thybulle's defensive grit.