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Just two games after turning in a historically bad shooting performance, Luguentz Dort on Wednesday set a rookie team record but the effort was not enough as the Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Houston Rockets in Game 7, 104-102.
Dort scored a game-high 30 points in 35 minutes of work as the Thunder lost in the final seconds to the Rockets. The Thunder had an opportunity to either tie or take the lead with less than two seconds remaining but their play was broken up and the Rockets held on to win.
The rookie finished by shooting 10-of-21 from the field and 6-of-12 from 3-point range. He set the Thunder rookie scoring record for a playoff game once he crossed the 21-point threshold and his performance capped off a strong finish to his rookie campaign.
SGA turnover to end the game.
Rockets take Game 7. pic.twitter.com/qzpFfqMvzr
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) September 3, 2020
The performance on Wednesday came two games after Dort recorded six points in Game 5, shooting 3-of-16 from the field while he missed all nine of his 3-point attempts. His nine misses were the third-most in a playoff game without making any shots.
Despite the uneven shooting display in the series, Dort played stout defense on James Harden and continued to shoot the ball with confidence. His teammates constantly encouraged him to keep shooting and that message paid off, albeit in a losing effort, on Wednesday.
The Thunder played well enough throughout the game to have a chance at the end but ultimately didn’t execute well enough to win. The team had established itself as one of the best in crunch-time situations this season but couldn’t duplicate that success one more time.
Houston will now face the Los Angeles Lakers in the Western Conference semifinals on Friday.
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