Tag: Lu Dort

Lu Dort indifferent about Mavericks fans’ animosity toward him

Lu Dort indifferent about Mavericks fans’ animosity towards him.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder’s second-round series progressed, Lu Dort was pinpointed by Dallas Mavericks fans as their next villain.

Playing a physical brand of defense that involved Dort fighting over screens and staying tagged to Luka Doncic, the 25-year-old’s style can certainly rub opposing fans the wrong way.

Throughout the series, Dort was the target of loud boos each time he visited Dallas in their playoff series. When he was called for a foul, the Mavericks crowd loudly cheered.

For the first time in Dort’s career, he was mercilessly booed by the opposing crowd in a road playoff environment. After the Thunder’s season-ending loss, he talked about being a villain in a playoff series in his exit interview.

“At the end of the day, I just go out there and do my job and do what I have to do to help my teammate,” Dort said. “I don’t really talk when I play. I hope I’m not being seen as a really, really bad villain. My main thing is to go out there and make everything tough.”

Dort later admitted he was amused by the loud reaction from the Dallas crowd when a referee called him for a foul but also added he didn’t let it affect him.

“I was actually being surprised when I got a foul called and the whole crowd was cheering. That was a little weird,” Dort said. “I guess it’s a good thing because they want to see me out of the game. I don’t really pay attention to that.

“I’m still trying to play my game and stay aggressive. If the fans are happy when I get called a foul, it’s whatever.”

This is a pretty mature response by Dort. Many players who receive as much heat as he did throughout a playoff series would lean into the toxicity. It’d fit into their energy and provide an extra boost of confidence.

For Dort, he seems to ignore it and continues to play his style of defense. It worked wonderfully. He held Doncic to arguably the worst playoff series of his career yet with 24.7 points on 44.7% shooting.

Considering where the Thunder and Mavericks are, expect several more battles between the squads over the next few years. Both will enter next season as title contenders once more.

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3 Thunder players receive votes for 2023-24 All-Defensive Teams

3 Thunder players receive votes for 2023-24 All-Defensive teams.

The NBA announced its two All-Defensive teams on Tuesday. While the Oklahoma City Thunder didn’t have a representative among the 10 slots, three players received votes.

Lu Dort finished just shy of making an All-Defensive team for the first time in his career. He tallied 34 points: six first-place votes (two points each) and 22 second-place votes (one point each).

Chet Holmgren also received a decent number of votes as a rookie: 21 — all on second-place votes. He finished second behind Victor Wembanyama this season for total blocks.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who led the league in steals, also garnered votes. The MVP runner-up had 19 from four first-place votes and 11 second-place votes.

The Thunder finished the season as one of the best defensive squads in the league. They were fourth in defensive rating in the regular season and second in the playoffs.

The All-Defensive first team consists of Herb Jones, Wembanyama, Anthony Davis, Bam Adebayo and Rudy Gobert.

The All-Defensive second team consists of Jrue Holiday, Alex Caruso, Derrick White, Jalen Suggs and Jaden McDaniels.

The full voting results can be read below:

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Mark Daigneault explains why he lets players play through foul trouble

Mark Daigneault explains why he lets his players play through foul trouble.

Separated by a screen, Lu Dort quickly caught up to Luka Doncic, who tricked the defensive stopper into bumping into him and drew the shooting foul.

Less than three minutes into Game 4, Dort picked up a costly second foul. Conventional wisdom would suggest the 25-year-old would get subbed out.

Traditionally speaking, the risk of Dort picking up additional fouls in the first half doesn’t outweigh the benefits. A nightmare scenario for the Thunder was on the horizon. Being without their best point-of-attack defender down the stretch of a close fourth quarter against Doncic could’ve been detrimental.

But Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has always been a very calculating coach, absorbing data and figuring out the best course of action depending on potential outcomes.

Instead of removing Dort early in the season’s biggest game, Daigneault stuck to his philosophy of playing players through foul trouble.

The calculated risk paid off tremendously.

Dort flirted with fouling out but ultimately logged 40 minutes. He was part of the Thunder’s closing lineup in their 14-point comeback win over the Mavericks in Game 4 to even the series at 2.

Dort’s been superb in the playoffs. He continues to add to his mythos of being a postseason riser. After limiting Brandon Ingram to 14.3 points on 34.5% shooting in a first-round sweep, he’s held Doncic to a pedestrian 22 points on 39% shooting through four games of the second round.

The multiple time All-Star had his worst outing yet in Game 4. Doncic finished with 18 points on 6-of-20 shooting, 12 rebounds and 10 assists. He shot 2-of-9 from 3 and committed seven turnovers.

A large reason for the lackluster performance by Dallas’ superstar was Daigneault’s decision to trust Dort’s discipline. He remained in the game and sat only eight minutes.

The Coach of the Year winner is a heavy leaner on analytics. His innovative mindset has helped him become one of the best head coaches in the league.

When it comes to handling players with foul trouble, his approach toward is another example of a long list where Daigneault is ahead of the curve.

“It’s something our data science guide — one of our guys pointed it out to me — as something to think about,” Daigneault said on his philosophy towards players with foul trouble. “The more I thought about it, the more I thought it had some legs.”

Daigneault quickly realized that the fear of a player fouling out is blown out of proportion. The 39-year-old will not let a small possibility heavily influence how he coaches a game.

“So we did it for a couple of years there. What you learn is there’s a lot of games where they don’t even foul out and (Dort) didn’t foul out last night,” Daigneault said. “He finished with five and yet played physically. He didn’t try to avoid fouls. He guarded Doncic the whole time.”

Daigneault further explained his approach toward players in foul trouble aligns with his general philosophy of being an aggressive head coach. That’s most obvious with his usage of challenges. The 39-year-old seldom leaves them unused, knowing they don’t translate to future games.

“I like erring on the side of aggressiveness with a lot of things. I think chance favors the aggressor. I try to be aggressive with a lot of things. I think it sets a good tone with the team,” Daigneault said. “We want them to play aggressively. I need to coach aggressively if I want to expect that from them.”

The Thunder have developed a gem of a head coach with Daigneault. He spent years behind the scenes crafting how he wants to coach. It’s propelled him into being one of the best in his profession.

Since being named head coach, Daigneault’s stuck true to the principles he’s honed in during the early stages of the rebuild to the playoffs.

Trusting Dort to limit Doncic without fouling out by citing analytics is the latest example of how the 39-year-old is more modernistic than the average NBA head coach.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes supports Austin Rivers’ NBA vs. NFL take

#Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes weighed in on a debate about the differences between NBA and NFL players, | @EdEastonJr

The sports comment heard worldwide occurred on a recent Pat McAfee show episode with a former pro basketball player. Austin Rivers played eleven years in the NBA before moving to an analyst role at the start of this season, and he’s already made an impression that players from two leagues, including the Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback, are debating.

During his appearance on the former Pro Bowl punter’s popular ESPN show, Rivers shared his thoughts on the adaptability of NBA and NFL players.

“I can take 30 players right now in the NBA and throw them in the NFL,” said Rivers. “You cannot take 30 NFL players and put them in the NBA.”

The quote has opened the door for players from both sports to look at the comments, either supporting Rivers or dismissing him. During his courtside visit to the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder NBA Playoffs game on Saturday, Patrick Mahomes supported Rivers’ theory.

During the Mavericks’ game three victory broadcast, Mahomes stopped by the commentary desk to suggest that the Thunder’s starting forward, Lu Dort, could play linebacker in today’s NFL.

Dort is a 25-year-old defensive specialist for Oklahoma City. He is 6’4, 220 pounds, and caught the eye of Mahomes on the opposing sidelines of his favorite team. The three-time Super Bowl champion can genuinely put himself in that conversation with his history of playing multiple sports as a youth and confidence displayed in previous discussions with all-time NBA greats.

Mahomes could have been scouting the next great linebacker for the Chiefs while enjoying the NBA game.

L2M Report: Pair of mistakes hurt OKC Thunder in Game 3 loss to Mavericks

L2M Report: Pair of mistakes hurt OKC Thunder in Game 3 loss to Mavericks.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s Game 3 loss to the Dallas Mavericks received extra salt in the wound with the Last Two Minutes Report.

The L2M Report indicated a pair of officiating mistakes hurt the Thunder. The first included Luka Doncic getting away with a turnover: He palmed the basketball with a 102-99 lead with 1:50 left.

The non-call was inconsequential because Doncic missed a stepback jumper. The second mistake was more costly though.

A controversial jump ball created outrage among Thunder fans. With OKC trailing, 102-99, with 1:32 left, the referees called for a jump ball between Lu Dort and Doncic.

The L2M report admitted it should’ve been a non-call. Both players had their hands on the loose ball and the play shouldn’t have been stopped for a held ball.

Doncic won the jump ball and gained Dallas an extra possession. It was a costly mistake considering the Thunder lost a one-possession game. The Thunder could’ve created a quality look to tie the game at 101 with roughly a minute left.

The admission of the errors is a nice sign of accountability, but the damage is done. While the Thunder didn’t lose because of the officials, getting an extra possession in a three-point game could’ve played a massive role in how Game 3 turned out.

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Kyrie Irving details Lu Dort’s defense after Thunder’s Game 1 blowout win

Kyrie Irving details Lu Dort’s defense after Thunder’s Game 1 blowout win.

Fighting through screens all night, Lu Dort might as well have been glued to Luka Doncic.

The biggest matchup of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s second-round series against the Dallas Mavericks involves Doncic and Dort. It’s a one-on-one war between an MVP finalist and one of the best perimeter defenders.

Through one game, Dort won a battle. In the Thunder’s Game 1 blowout win, Doncic had his worst playoff game. He was limited to 19 points on 6-of-19 shooting and went 1-of-8 from 3.

The 25-year-old superstar struggled to create space from Dort. Several screen attempts proved wasteful for Dallas. While Doncic is simply too good to be held to under 20 points all series, Dort did exactly what the Thunder hoped by making Doncic earn his buckets with 19 points on 19 shots.

Doncic’s co-star Kyrie Irving, who had a quiet 20 points, went into detail about Dort’s rise to one of the more prominent on-ball defenders in the league.

“Lu’s been a great defender since he walked into this league; he’s got to be given his credit and respect,” Irving said. “I think he causes a lot of issues when he’s pressuring the ballhandler 94 feet for practically the whole game.

“That’s something that we have to be aware of, but he’s not the only good defender out there. I don’t think what makes him great is just him individually. I think it’s the team game that they play, and he does a great job of being the head of that.

“But for me and my teammates, we just have to continue to attack him and continue to play downhill in a way where we play off of two feet. … This Game 1 is done, we didn’t play as well as we would have liked. We failed on a lot of our coverages, and we didn’t come in with the attitude that was necessary to get this W. …

“I had too many turnovers tonight, especially in that first quarter, just trying to get my guy settled. So there are some things to look back on, but the defensive pressure is not going to stop. So we just got to adjust.”

Through five games, OKC’s defense has been stellar in the postseason. It has yet to allow 100 points by an opponent. This will be a challenge Doncic will have to overcome if the Mavericks hope to advance past this round.

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Lu Dort breaks down defensive matchup against Luka Doncic

Lu Dort breaks down defensive matchup against Luka Doncic in Round 2 of 2024 NBA playoffs.

The biggest matchup in the second-round series between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Dallas Mavericks involves an offensive hub and one of the best perimeter defenders.

A key matchup will be how Lu Dort defends Luka Doncic. Dort had a fantastic first round. He limited Brandon Ingram to 14.3 points on 34.5% shooting in four games.

Dort’s one-on-one matchup increases in difficulty by tenfold against Doncic.

Doncic is one of the best players in the league and is an MVP finalist this season. He averaged 29.8 points on 40.5% shooting, 9.5 assists and 8.8 rebounds against the LA Clippers.

The 25-year-old had a stellar pair of games against the Thunder this season. He averaged 34 points on 56% shooting, 13.5 assists and 11.5 rebounds. Doncic will average his monster numbers, but Dort can make him earn those points.

“A great player. Good ability to create shots. Makes a lot of tough shots,” Dort said about Doncic. “The ball is gonna be in his hands a lot so my main thing is to make everything tough.”

A point of emphasis for defending Doncic will be to stay disciplined and avoid falling for his foul-baiting. He averaged 8.7 free-throw attempts this season. Dort cannot allow the MVP candidate to get free points at the charity stripe.

“He’s good at that. Drawing fouls and stuff like that,” Dort said about Doncic. “Whenever he gets to his spots, I gotta be aware of that.”

The Thunder will not be able to blanket Doncic; he’s simply too great of a player to do so. Instead, OKC will need to focus on limiting him and turning him into an inefficient high-volume scorer like he was against the Clippers.

Doncic struggled from outside against LA. He shot 23.9% from 3 on 11.2 attempts in the first round. If he puts up similar shooting numbers in second round, OKC has the offensive firepower to make that a costly deficiency.

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Lu Dort reveals details of defensive-themed Thunder group chat

Lu Dort reveals details of defensive-themed Thunder group chat.

The Oklahoma City Thunder have a tight-knit group. The young roster has allowed several players to relate to each other as they all have similar experiences in the league.

That bond doesn’t just stop beyond the court. It also translates digitally. As the Thunder prepare for Game 3 with a chance to go up 3-0 over the New Orleans Pelicans, Lu Dort revealed several of his teammates share a defensive-themed group chat.

Dort said the group chat’s purpose is to send footage of defensive plays to help improve each other on that end of the floor. It’s helped as the Thunder finished with the fourth-best defensive rating in the league this season.

“It’s kinda some new stuff every day. We watch a lot of clips,” Dort said. “Whenever we got something new to talk about, we’ll be there talking about it.”

He also listed the members of the five-person chat: himself, Cason Wallace, Aaron Wiggins, Keyontae Johnson and assistant coach David Akinyooye.

This is an interesting peek behind the curtains of the Thunder’s relationship dynamics. Dort is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and has done a wonderful job of limiting Brandon Ingram through two games of the first-round series.

The fact they share a group chat shows this group’s togetherness. Sharing information and being a knowledge sponge can only result in positives in both an individual and group level.

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Player grades: Thunder struggle against Lakers again in 116-104 loss

Player grades for the Thunder’s 116-104 loss to the Lakers.

Pulling up from deep, D’Angelo Russell swished a 3-pointer to give host Los Angeles an insurmountable 24-point lead with nine minutes left on Monday night. It was the third straight 3-pointer for Russell in one minute.

The outside shot invoked a loud celebration by the crowd as OKC was forced to call a timeout. It also served as the dagger in a tough road loss for the Thunder.

With the 116-104 loss to the Lakers, OKC lost the last three contests in the teams’ four-game season series.

“The start was good offensively but our overall sharpness just was there, even during that stretch,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the loss. “I thought we tried to drum that up a couple of different times but weren’t obviously able to do it offensively. … Certainly not our fastball tonight.”

With a hot start, the Thunder built a 12-point lead over the Lakers. After that stretch though, they never looked comfortable the rest of the way.

The Lakers scored 11 straight points and exited the first quarter tied at 25. The Thunder couldn’t recover. OKC was outscored, 27-18, by Los Angeles in the second quarter and entered halftime trailing 52-43.

The halftime break didn’t help. The Thunder were outscored, 37-29, by the Lakers the third quarter. This included a 23-8 run by Los Angeles that pushed its lead to double-digit points.

The Lakers entered the fourth quarter with an 89-72 lead. Any hopes of an OKC comeback were quickly dashed when Los Angeles went on an 11-2 run in the opening three minutes to push its lead to a game-high 25 points.

“They caught some confidence and caught a rhythm in the second half and we had a hard time turning them off,” Daigneault said. “Some of those shots were really, really tough but there were some controllable stuff prior to that I wish we took care of.”

Playing on the second night of a road back-to-back, the Thunder looked exhausted and signs of fatigue grew as the game unraveled. Overall, they shot an ugly 39% from the field and went 15-of-39 (38.5%) from 3.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had one of his worst games of the season with 20 points on 13 shots. Jalen Williams was limited to seven points. Chet Holmgren had 15 points and seven rebounds.

Meanwhile, the inconsistent Lakers look their best each time they match up against OKC. That was the case again in their final matchup of the regular season. They shot 51% from the field and went 16-of-34 (47.1%) from 3.

The Lakers also had distinct advantages with 48 points inside the paint and a 18-of-25 night from the free-throw line. For comparison, the Thunder had 36 points in the paint and just 16 free-throw attempts.

Anthony Davis dominated with 24 points, 12 rebounds, four assists and three blocks. LeBron James recovered from a slow start and tallied 19 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists.

“He’s a load, he’s obviously a very good player,” Daigneault said on Davis. “For us to neutralize him or do a good job on him, we got to have high, high energy and intensity and I didn’t think we had that tonight.”

The Lakers’ role players also enjoyed hot nights. Austin Reaves had 16 points, seven assists and six rebounds. Russell scored 26 points and shot 5-of-11 from 3. Taurean Prince totaled 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting from 3 off the bench.

It seems the Lakers have the Thunder’s number — at least in the regular season. They never looked comfortable throughout most of the night. OKC has looked uncharacteristically lethargic in three of its four matchups with them this season.

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.

Player grades: Thunder complete 16-point comeback in 123-110 win over Rockets

Player grades for the Thunder’s 123-110 win over the Rockets.

Stationed in the left corner spot, Chet Holmgren drilled a 3-pointer off a Shai Gilgeous-Alexander pass. The bucket capped off a monster second half for OKC. It’s only fitting the seven-foot rookie hit the dagger after a nuclear fourth quarter.

The Oklahoma City Thunder overcame a 16-point deficit to come away with a 123-110 win over the Houston Rockets. This was their league-leading 16th double-digit comeback of the season.

“We cut into (the deficit) and were able to get it to a safe spot at halftime,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said on the win. “And then the guys did a great job at coming out of the half, showed great persistence — obviously, Houston shot it well early. But we got really on track physically and I was impressed with the way we did that.”

The early returns of this contest looked eerily similar to the Thunder’s previous visit to Houston this season. It looked like OKC would lay another egg at the Rockets with a poor showing.

The Rockets had a 34-31 advantage following the first quarter. By halftime, Houston’s lead grew to 62-57 which included owning a lead as high as 16 points in the opening two quarters.

The second half featured the Thunder finally exorcising their Houston demons with a dominant defensive performance that slowly chipped away at the scoreboard. A massive fourth-quarter run decisively turned this game in their favor.

The Thunder outscored the Rockets, 30-21, in the third quarter to enter the final frame with an 87-83 lead. OKC went on a commanding 20-7 run in the second half to open up a 14-point lead a little over three minutes into the final frame.

Holmgren was the catalyst of this run as he scored nine straight points for OKC to start the fourth quarter. The Rockets had no answer for the seven-foot center, who turned into a scoring machine.

The closest the Rockets got the rest of the way was within eight points before OKC responded with a 9-0 run to put this one away. The Thunder’s 36-point fourth quarter turned it from a double-digit deficit to a double-digit win for them.

Overall, OKC shot 47% from the field and went 17-of-35 (48.6%) from 3. It went 14-of-15 from the free-throw line. It also dished out 30 assists on 46 baskets.

Gilgeous-Alexander tallied 36 points on 23 shots to lead the Thunder in scoring. Holmgren had 29 points, eight rebounds and seven assists with 19 points in the fourth quarter. Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Lu Dort had 16 points.

“I thought (he) played with great recognition,” Daigneault said on Holmgren. “We continue to do a better and better job at finding him when he’s open for three and when he’s around the basket.”

Meanwhile, the Rockets shot 41% from the field and went 16-of-41 (39%) from 3. Houston held an advantage at the free-throw line over OKC, going 18-of-23.

Jabari Smith Jr. led the way with a monster 20-point and 17-rebound double-double. Alperen Sengun struggled through foul trouble and was limited to 19 points and 12 rebounds. Fred VanVleet had 20 points.

This was an impressive win for the Thunder, who’ve struggled in Houston recently. This comeback win snapped a five-game losing streak at Toyota Center for OKC. It also has now won 40 games before 20 losses, an impressive mark that’s been used as a barometer for serious contenders.

But considering what they’ve done this season, that’s been evident for quite a while now for the Thunder. A 40-17 record — with the 40th win being a gutted-out outing — is only an additional affirmation of that.

“We had some poise but it was more urgency. I thought tonight was a recognition of if we kept playing like that, they could’ve just run us off the floor,” Daigneault said on their double-digit comeback. “Our urgency ticked up and we go nastier and tougher and more tight and together on the defensive end of the floor.”

Let’s look at Thunder player grades.