Lu Dort’s defense creates problems for James Harden, Rockets

James Harden’s shooting percentages and scoring totals have plunged since rookie guard Lu Dort entered the series for Oklahoma City.

Houston Rockets guard James Harden is an MVP finalist and the NBA’s three-time defending scoring champion, but he’s now shooting 5-of-34 (14.7%) this season when defended by Oklahoma City rookie Lu Dort.

Per NBA.com statistics, in data encompassing both the regular season and playoffs, that’s the lowest percentage for Harden against any player that has guarded him for at least 30 total possessions.

“He’s a good defensive player,” Houston head coach Mike D’Antoni said of Dort after Saturday’s Game 3 loss. “He’s putting everything into it. He’s strong and he gets through picks. He’s doing a good job.”

The Thunder trail the Rockets by a 2-1 margin in their first-round playoff battle. Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is set for Monday.

Dort missed Game 1 of the series with a knee sprain, and Harden dominated with 37 points on 54.5% shooting — including 46.2% on 3-pointers. Houston scored 123 points in that win.

But during the last two games, which Dort has played, Harden is averaging 29.5 points per game on 39.5 shooting, and just 20.8% on 3-pointers. The Rockets averaged 107.5 points in regulation in Game 2 and Game 3, down more than 15 from their Game 1 total.

Houston was one of the NBA’s top offenses all year in net rating, but that has plunged to 91.0 in minutes that Dort has played this series.

“Lu’s effort on James and Eric was really, really great,” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said after Game 3. “He put his all into it.”

The conundrum for the Thunder has been what to do with Dort’s offense. At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, Dort has the ideal body type to move laterally with Harden while also having enough thickness and strength not to be overpowered. However, he’s shooting just 2-of-14 on 3-pointers (14.3%), which makes it easy for Houston’s defense to help off him.

For Donovan to stick with his usual frontcourt configuration of center Steven Adams and forward Danilo Gallinari (the team’s top shooter and scorer), that only leaves room for three other players. Considering that OKC has had success all season closing games with their guard trio of Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dennis Schroder, Donovan has understandably been reluctant to pull any of them in crucial minutes.

But when Adams left Game 3 late with a knee contusion, it forced Donovan’s hand, and he closed the game with Gallinari and four guards. It worked, with the Thunder outscoring Houston, 22-5, over the final 55 seconds of regulation and all five minutes of overtime, (That said, the margin was likely skewed some due to Harden fouling out with 4:07 left.)

With all three of Paul, Gilgeous-Alexander, and Schroder able to make plays off the dribble and collapse Houston’s defense, it lessened the impact of Dort’s obvious liabilities as a perimeter shooter.

The status of Adams for Game 4 isn’t yet clear, but based on the Game 3 success, it seems inevitable that Donovan will try the smaller lineup again. That could especially be the case versus the Rockets, whose own lack of size could allow the smaller Thunder to stay competitive on rebounds.

Without Adams, the Thunder don’t have much in the way of rim protection. But the Rockets weren’t able to punish them, since outside of Harden (who was blanketed by Dort), there isn’t anyone who has consistently been able to break down OKC’s defense off the dribble.

That could change if the Rockets regain the services of a healthy Russell Westbrook, who has yet to play this series due to a right quad strain. Westbrook is by far Houston’s most athletic player, and its best at attacking the rim. Without Adams, Westbrook should have driving lanes.

After Game 3, D’Antoni did not rule out Westbrook playing in Game 4 — but he certainly didn’t say that he would, either.

Aside from playing Westbrook, there are other potential adjustments that D’Antoni and the Rockets could make for Monday’s Game 4.

For instance, albeit in a limited sample, Harden had success against Dort in the low post during three possessions of Saturday’s Game 3.

The Rockets could also try harder to force the switch out of pick-and-roll scenarios, as Robert Covington did on the first possession of Game 3.

Due to early foul trouble and D’Antoni’s preference to ride the hot shooting hand of Jeff Green (22 points), Covington only played 19 minutes.

Another key could be keeping Harden out of foul trouble. With 5 fouls late in Game 3, Harden was understandably reluctant to attack the basket in the closing minutes and risk an offensive foul against Dort.

“I can’t pick up cheap fouls throughout the course of the game, and then I wouldn’t be in that position later in the game,” Harden said postgame of his foul trouble, which limited him on both offense and defense.

Harden fouled out early in overtime. “I put that on myself,” he said.

Whatever the solution, the Rockets need to install it, quickly.

With the top-seeded Los Angeles Lakers back in control (2-1) of their first-round series versus Portland, Houston has every incentive to try and close out OKC in five games. If the series is pushed to six or seven, and the Lakers win their series (on the same side of the West bracket) in five games, Houston could be looking at only one day of rest between the first round and second round — even if they do get past the Thunder.

Considering that the Lakers are already much bigger and more physical than the smaller Rockets, allowing them to also be more fresh heading into that series would seem to be an undesirable formula for success.

Game 4 between the Rockets and Thunder tips off at 3:00 p.m. Central on Monday, with a national broadcast on TNT and a regional version (with Houston announcers) on AT&T SportsNet Southwest.

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