Luguentz Dort holds James Harden to historically bad shooting night

In his first career start, Dort held Harden to 9-of-29 shooting as Harden tied his own record for most 3-point misses (16) in a single game.

Lu Dort might have just earned himself a contract.

In his first career start on Monday night, the two-way player frustrated James Harden from start to finish.

While at first glance, it might look as if The Beard had his way with the Thunder rookie, a closer look at the box score reveals that Harden needed 29 shots from the field to get to 29 points. He made just 9 of his 29 attempts, going a paltry 1-of-17 from beyond the arc. Per Stat Muse, that tied his own record for most missed three-point attempts in a single game.

The only place Harden excelled on Monday was at the free-throw line, hitting 10-of-13.

Dort drew the start in place of Terrance Ferguson, who missed the game due to personal reasons.

According to Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman, Billy Donovan told reporters after the game that he though Dort did “an unbelievable job” in a career-high 32 minutes.

“He played a lot of minutes, really worked hard on Harden. You’re not going to be perfect on him all the time, but I thought the effort that he gave for the 30-plus minutes that he was on the floor was huge for us.”

Dort scored eight points, but much like Ferguson in that role was needed much more for his defensive presence than his offensive prowess.

As noted by Mussatto, Dort drew a game-changing charge against Harden that helped shift the momentum in the Thunder’s favor late in the second half.

Oklahoma City overcame a 16-point deficit at the start of the fourth quarter to come back to get the win, 112-107.