Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Lu Dort finally got his game to guard LeBron James.
He did as well as could be expected, often pressuring the star full-court and helping to hold James to 19 points on 7-for-19 shooting in a 105-86 Thunder win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
“That was just the game plan,” Dort said. “I’m just following what the coaches tell me to do. I just did it, and I feel like it worked well for the team.”
Center Steven Adams was thoroughly impressed with the 21-year-old’s continued strong defense.
“He’s an animal,” Thunder center Steven Adams said of Dort. “It’s all the small stuff. Making them start their offense at a later clock, which rushes them more. It’s all that small stuff that is so good. It will help out tremendously in the playoffs.”
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Dort signed with the Thunder this past offseason as an undrafted free agent and spent much of the year in the G League.
Once he was promoted to Oklahoma City, it didn’t take long for him to enter the starting lineup. His defense has consistently been that good.
He said that even though James was the matchup, he didn’t put extra pressure on himself in the starting lineup.
“In my mind, I felt like it was just another game. Another elite team. I felt like it was really a team effort and I felt like we all contributed in this win,” Dort said.
“We were all here guarding him, and I feel like we did a great job.”
Dort and Andre Roberson played the bulk of the time on James.
The Lakers shot just 35.2% from the field and made only five of 37 3-point attempts, just 13.5%.
“Neither team really shot it particularly well from behind the line today, but certainly Lu’s effort to hold him up and to play close defense, and to try to pick him up full court, I think the effort that Lu extended and Andre extended was great for our team,” head coach Billy Donovan said.
Adams had similar sentiment. Neither he nor Donovan were asked about Roberson, but both were sure to include him in the praise.
“It wasn’t just Lu,” Adams said. “Most of the players who had to guard LeBron did a really good job, like Dre. Dre was trying to pressure him up there a lot.”
That defense helped prevent the Lakers from going on any sustained runs over the course of the game.
It led the Thunder to a much-needed victory as they stick within a tight group between the fourth and sixth seeds in the Western Conference.
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