The too-young, non-rebounding, foul-baiting Oklahoma City Thunder just collected their first playoff series win since the 2015-16 season after defeating the New Orleans Pelicans in a measly four games.
Yes, the last time the Thunder won a series in the NBA Playoffs was Kevin Durant’s final season wearing a Thunder jersey––a season ending in OKC losing in the well-documented Western Conference Finals when they botched a 3-1 lead to the Golden State Warriors.
That’s beside the point. The Thunder are back in 2024 and are a better team than they were in 2016.
The man to thank most for OKC getting through the Pelicans with a perceived level of ease is Luguentz Dort. Yes, the 25-year-old shooting guard, who averages 10.9 points, 3.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists, 0.9 steals, and 0.4 blocks on 40.3 percent shooting and 34.7 percent from 3, is the foundation to the Thunder sweeping the Pelicans––a team that was perceived to be an unfavorable first-round matchup for the boys in Blue because of their perimeter defense and prowess in rebounding, which happens to be one of OKC’s weaknesses.
Although Dort hasn’t been on an NBA All-Defensive Team, you can watch one of his games and tell he’s a relentless and physical, yet extremely skilled and methodical defender, often tasked with guarding the opposing team’s best players, which he did, wreaking havoc, serving as Brandon Ingram’s primary defender during the series and spent time guarding CJ McCollum as well.
During the Playoffs, Ingram averaged 14.3 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 3.3 assists per game on 34.5 percent shooting from the floor, and 20.0 percent shooting from 3.
Ingram was a different caliber player in the Playoffs than he was during the season when he averaged 20.8 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game on 49.2 percent shooting from the floor and 35.5 percent from 3, where he was attempting more than double the amount of 3s than he did during the Playoffs (3.8 vs. 1.7 attempts) and making slightly more than half than he did during the season (0.7 vs. 1.3 made).
More specifically, when guarded by Dort (35:12 minutes and 166.4 partial possessions,) Ingram only scored 28 points on 11-of-33 shooting, a glaring difference from his season average.
Dort’s defensive mindset has resonated throughout OKC’s entire team, specifically younger guys who have shown defensive aptitude early in their career, more specifically, second-year budding star Jalen Williams and rookie Cason Wallace.
Whoever wasn’t placed in shackles by Dort, was probably actively harassed by Jalen Williams. The Pelicans have another star in CJ McCollum, who is normally their second or third option but upgraded to first or second option due to Zion Williamson’s injury. His numbers also dipped in the series.
McCollum’s scoring numbers and efficiency took a tumble during the series with OKC. He only averaged 17.8 points on 41.8 percent shooting and 24.1 percent from 3 after attempting 7.3 per game and only making 1.3. These numbers are a drastic difference from his 20 points per game on 45.9 percent shooting and 42.9 percent from 3. During the season, McCollum took 8.4 3s per game, making 3.6, so he wasn’t allowed to find his shot as freely as he has. Yes, he got creative and still got shots up, but was that within the Pelicans’ game plan? No.
Two-thirds of the time, Williams is responsible for these visible differences in McCollums’ offensive production. In the 25:34 minutes guarded by Dub, CJ only scored 17 points on 40 percent shooting from the field and an eye-popping 1-of-8 shooting from 3 (12.5 percent), also committing 5 turnovers on 6 assists.
Dort and Williams have reinforcements, too, and that’s primarily Cason Wallace off the bench, who’s the type of relentless defender that Lu Dort is, minus the applicable experience.
He spent one-third of the time on McCollum, holding him to 4 points on 5 attempts, shooting 0 percent from 3.
That’s the thing with this Thunder team––they’re an incredibly close bunch, and I believe there are parallels between that and the team adopting Dort’s defensive mindset. There weren’t any liabilities defensively for the Thunder. Yes, Dort, Williams, Wallace, and Holmgren are better defensive players than guys like Josh Giddey and Gordon Hayward but Hayward and Giddey shouldn’t be considered liabilities, and frankly, they weren’t all series.
In four defense-driven games, Dort was the undoubted driving force in OKC’s stellar performance. He’s not the loudest, he’s not boastful like many of the league’s best defensive players, but his impact is felt.
As the Thunder reach the second round for the first time in eight years and are the youngest team to do so, Dort’s job won’t be getting any easier. He’ll await either the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, or the Los Angeles Clippers’ offensive tandem of James Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Russell Westbrook, which will take a team effort to contain.
