The prevailing sentiment is that you can’t stop James Harden, you can only hope to contain him. But in his rookie season, Thunder guard Luguentz Dort came awfully close.
During the Thunder’s seven-game series against Harden and the Rockets in the first round of the 2020 NBA Playoffs, Dort became somewhat of a household name because of the stellar defensive effort he put forth against the former MVP.
The Beard did get the last laugh, though. He famously (and ironically) helped Houston steal the Game 7 victory after blocking Dort’s game-winning three-point attempt, but not even that could completely erase the memory of Harden’s struggles in the series, including a 4-for-15 performance from the field in Game 7.
On October 13, Dort joined the Montreal-based TSN 690 for a radio interview for his hometown station. The rookie touched on a number of subjects, including his want to put Montreal’s basketball talent on the map, as well as his interesting partnership with fellow Canadian and teammate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Perhaps most importantly, however, was Dort’s revealing that Chris Paul helped him prepare for the toughest assignment of the young defensive stalwart’s career — slowing down the Beard.
Obviously, the fact that Dort credits Paul with the assist is further evidence that Paul’s impact on winning goes far beyond his contributions on the basketball court.
“I spent a lot of time (prepping to guard Harden). … We got to prepare a little earlier and having Chris (Paul) on my team, he’s just such a leader. He knows how the playoffs work and how to spend your time getting ready for it. So I spent a lot of time with Chris, watching film on James, studying his game and I felt like that really helped.”
That’s a fair conclusion to draw. Although Harden shot 46.5% from the field over the course of the series, he struggled mightily with Dort as his primary defender and shot less than 50% from the field in four of the series’ seven games. That includes the aforementioned 4-for-15 effort in Game 7.
Dort also admits that his attending Arizona State University (like Harden), added a little extra incentive for him to show out against the living legend — bragging rights were at stake.
“Me going to Arizona State and James going to Arizona State, I used to watch James a lot. So in the playoffs, I was just ready and I felt like I was good enough to stop him.”
The Thunder obviously fell short, but that was in no way due to the fault of Dort. Although he still needs to improve on the offensive side of the ball, it’s difficult to not be excited about his potential based on what he’s shown in relatively short order.
It’s fair to say we’ll all be staying tuned.
(H/T: ca.nba.com)