Heading into Game 5, Lu Dort was under the microscope.
Through eight playoff games, he had shot just 31% from the field and 27% from 3. He was often replaced in clutch lineups with Alex Caruso or Cason Wallace. So when OKC coach Mark Daigneault, who had already drawn criticism from fans due to his approach to end Game 1, left Dort in the game with his team down nine with just under nine minutes left, many took to X to voice their opinions.
Dort took those opinions, balled them up, shotputted them to the rim and won Game 5 for OKC. Dort’s three late-game 3-pointers gave the Thunder life when it was on its last legs, and his save that led to a Chet Holmgren layup helped propel OKC to a 112-105 win in a crucial spot.
When asked about his decision to leave Dort in despite his rough series, Daigneault responded simply but poignantly.
“I don’t bet against Lu,” he said. “It’s that simple.”
Depending on how OKC’s season plays out, fans will remember the Dort game forever. The time in which the fanbase collectively was forced to eat crow on a player that many had given up on for the series. It’s a role player story as old as time, but the Thunder had always been on the receiving end. Whether it was PJ Washington last season or Shane Battier against Miami in the 2012 NBA Finals, OKC’s role players always seemed to get outperformed.
Finally, the tables were turned.
His contributions to OKC’s Game 5 win won’t be forgotten, but he wasn’t without help.
For the first time in the 2025 playoffs, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander looked like an MVP. He poured in 31 points on 12-for-23 shooting while dishing out seven assists. The biggest play of the game came with 47 seconds remaining when Gilgeous-Alexander navigated to the side of an Isaiah Hartenstein screen, getting a sliver of space and canning a 3-pointer to give the Thunder a six-point lead.
It was the dagger OKC needed to capitalize on Dort’s heroics. It was what OKC fans needed to see to assure them that their superstar was the playoff performer he looked like last season. Lastly, it was what he needed to secure a win over a rampaging Nikola Jokic, who firmly stamped his already secured status as the best player in the world.
Jokic scored 44 points, grabbed 15 rebounds and racked up five assists. Three of those points came on a ridiculous 3-point shot with 1:40 left to tie the game. Before his twisting, fading 3-point miracle, OKC seemed to have secured the momentum. But Jokic did what he has so many times in his career — made the improbable look routine.
The team around him let him down late. Jamal Murray had a hot streak in the third quarter, but he also missed multiple open looks in the fourth, allowing OKC to stay in the game and eventually kick the door down with Dort’s barrage of 3s.
Most of Game 5 will be lost.
Few will remember Gilgeous-Alexander’s dagger. The quality minutes OKC got from Jaylin Williams will be swept under the rug. Jalen Williams’ 3 to take the lead will only exist in the minds of the most passionate fans.
That’s the nature of sports. It’s just a few memorable moments and the final score that live forever.
Around the NBA, fans will soon see Dort for what he is most of the time. An elite defender who can hit an open 3 and makes as many head-scratching plays on offense as he does great ones.
But for tonight, and forever in the minds of Thunder fans. Game 5 against the Denver Nuggets on May 14, 2025, will go down in history as “The Dort Game.”
