Why OKC Thunder’s win vs Rockets in NBA Cup semifinals ‘was a Lu Dort night’
LAS VEGAS — Lu Dort hasn’t dreamt of scoring 40 in a while. He earned his first couple contracts committed to being a stopper, the kind famed for shutting down a one-man offense like James Harden. He’s honored that since.
In actuality, Dort’s dream game was Saturday in the Thunder’s 111-96 win against the Rockets in the NBA Cup semifinals.
Betweens the muddy hairs of one of the worst shotmaking halves of NBA basketball this season, Dort was a diamond.
Part of the ugliness in Saturday’s first half was Houston funneling open 3s to Dort, the same way Dallas did in May’s West semifinals. (Dort’s been a relatively accurate shooter on the season, but is still dealing with mallet finger and is often teams’ preferred choice of shooter.)
Dort lived with that, part of the dreaded shotmaking. But his game, curated for a game like this, made it so that it was less noticeable.
He leaped and heaved himself toward the glass. He thrust himself at Fred VanVleet, the man who essentially drowned the Thunder two weeks earlier, holding him to eight points on 3-of-15 shooting. He dove on the floor for a loose ball like it was a grenade to start the second half, a play Sam Presti — according to Mark Daigneault — said was the play of the game.
Dort admitted to feeling a shift in energy then before noting that he “was gonna make that play regardless.”
And eventually, he drilled every second half 3 he took. The game gave back to him. He finished with 19 points and nine boards, though his legacy on Saturday transcended that. That sort of game belongs to him.
Maybe the players of the 2000’s would’ve embraced him. Saturday often felt reminiscent of it, and even without the baggy shorts (much love to TJ Ford) or cornrows, Dort fit in well.
“Tonight was a Lu Dort night,” Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Nothing we haven’t seen before.”
NBA Cup final: Thunder vs. Bucks
TIPOFF: 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ABC)
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