Tag: Luguentz Dort

Montreal natives Bennedict Mathurin, Lu Dort react to first NBA meeting

Mathurin previously said he was most looking forward to playing Lu Dort, and the rookie had his first chance to play him on Wednesday.

Indiana Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin said prior to the season that the NBA player he was most looking forward to playing was Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort.

On Wednesday, Mathurin had his first opportunity to face him.

Mathurin and Dort were born in Montreal and represent a growing contingent of Canadian basketball players in the NBA. Mathurin played for Canada in the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, and Dort competed in the Olympic qualifying tournament in 2021.

The first matchup in the NBA went to Dort and the Thunder.

Dort recorded his second double-double of the season with 22 points, 11 rebounds and one assist in the 126-106 win. Mathurin produced 13 points and five rebounds in 22 minutes in his sixth start of the season.

The game had a special meaning for each.

“It was an honor for me,” Mathurin said. “The kids who were watching the game … It was a great thing for Montreal, but also for the Haitian community to have two Haitian Canadians playing against each other in the NBA was a great thing.”

Said Dort: “Neither him nor me would expect us to be here in the NBA and playing against each other. He has been doing so well, too. He is definitely going to stay in the league for a long time, which is big, not only for us but for the whole city of Montreal.”

The two players were matched up quite a bit.

Mathurin held Dort to three points on 1-of-5 shooting from the field as his primary defender. On the other end, Mathurin managed just two points with one made field goal on three attempts with Dort guarding him.

Dort even had one block on Mathurin.

“Obviously, he is a great defender,” Mathurin said. “Having great defenders like him, I’m trying to keep the game simple and try to involve my teammates the right way and make the simple play every time.”

Mathurin and Dort train together during the summers, and even linked up last year to catch a game in the Canadian Elite Basketball League. They will likely be teammates for years come with the national team as the country looks to solidify its place on the international level.

The matchup on Wednesday was the first of many between the two Canadians. Playing in different conferences, they will only see each other twice a season, but the battles should be worth watching.

“From where we grew up, it wasn’t easy,” Dort said. “To have each other’s back and to be here and represent our people — Canada, Haiti and Montreal — it is just big. We’re going to keep doing that.”

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Player grades: Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe lead Thunder to surprise 115-109 win over Grizzlies

Player grades for the Thunder’s 115-109 win over the Grizzlies.

The NBA can be a funny sport sometimes.

Heading into Saturday’s game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and Memphis Grizzlies, circumstances surrounding the game made it feel like a safe bet to assume the shorthanded Thunder would get blown out.

The Thunder entered the game with a five-game losing streak with an even longer injury report. By the time the game started, the Thunder were without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Josh Giddey, Chet Holmgren, Ousmane Dieng, Darius Bazley and Jeremiah Robinson-Earl.

That’s three regular starters from most starting lineups this season in Gilgeous-Alexander, Giddey and Robinson-Earl along with two rotational pieces in Bazley and Dieng. To decipher even further, the Thunder were without their best two players in Gilgeous-Alexander and Giddey.

Having that many bodies out would make it nearly impossible to beat most teams. The fact that it was against the first-place Grizzlies who were on a seven-game winning streak made it even more difficult.

On paper, the Grizzlies should’ve made easy work of the Thunder. Instead, the complete opposite transpired.

The Thunder were able to grow a lead as large as 24 points behind their starting backcourt of Lu Dort and Isaiah Joe, who combined for 47 points on 15-of-26 shooting. By the end of the second quarter, the Thunder had their biggest lead at the half in their season at 21 points.

The Grizzlies — who were without Ja Morant in the second half due to two controversial technical fouls resulting in his ejection — made it interesting in the second half, winning the final two quarters by a score of 66-51. But the Thunder were able to build enough cushion with their first half lead to still win by six points.

Just like that, the injury-plagued Thunder surprised the NBA world with a blowout win against a Grizzlies team that blew out the Milwaukee Bucks in their previous game.

Let’s take a look at Thunder player grades from the Thunder’s 115-109 win over the Grizzlies.

Bennedict Mathurin linked up with Lu Dort for Montreal Alliance game

Mathurin on Friday linked up with Dort to catch a basketball game in their hometown of Montreal.

Indiana Pacers rookie Bennedict Mathurin on Friday linked up with Oklahoma City Thunder forward Lu Dort to catch a basketball game in their hometown.

The two players were pictured on hand courtside watching the Montreal Alliance host the Newfoundland Growlers of the Canadian Elite Basketball League. However, they were likely not thrilled with the result of the game as the Growlers won, 94-71.

Mathurin and Dort were both born in Montreal and each represent a growing brand of Canadian basketball in the NBA. Mathurin also previously played for Canada in the 2021 FIBA Under-19 World Cup while Dort competed in the Olympic qualifying tournament last year.

Mathurin and Dort have each had notable summers to this point.

Of course, the Pacers drafted Mathurin sixth last month out of Arizona. He had a strong run in the Las Vegas Summer League, earning second-team all-summer league honors after averaging 19.3 points, four rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.3 steals.

On the other hand, Dort signed a five-year, $87.5 million contract extension with the Thunder on July 6 after going undrafted in 2019. He had his best season to date last year after averaging 17.2 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.7 assists.

With the offseason in full swing, Mathurin and Dort each took some time to return home and catch a CEBL game together. Unfortunately, they weren’t treated to a win by the hometown team.

This post originally appeared on Rookie Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Breaking down why the Thunder young core will have long-term success

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off their largest losing streak in franchise history and yet are in a great position for future success.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are coming off their largest losing streak in franchise history and yet are in a great position for future success.

Due to careful cap maneuvering and asset management, Oklahoma City’s roster is loaded with tons of young talent. Since moving on from veteran players like Al Horford and George Hill, the Thunder have been featuring starting lineups younger than teams that played in college basketball’s March Madness.

Oklahoma City has some potential stars, especially in guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. They can also potentially add two lottery picks in the 2021 NBA draft, which could perhaps include one of the stars projected to be available when they are on the clock to make their picks.

While the Thunder have a roster that is still fully in flux, and salary cap flexibility will make it possible for them to make bigger moves, let’s take a look at some of the players currently on their roster who have had success so far:

Ranking the most successful two-way players ever

HoopsHype ranks the best two-way contract NBA players ever, judging them by how successful they’ve been since first being signed.

Since the 2017-18 season, the NBA has had two-way contracts as a new means to give teams more opportunities to find diamond-in-the-rough types of players, and to give those players homes as they try to make their way through the early stages of their professional basketball careers.

Two-way contracts allow teams to sign young, usually undrafted (though sometimes even second-round-pick) players to a deal that lets them split those guys’ time between the NBA and the G League. That gives those players the chance to spend time in the NBA and practice against the best of the best while also giving them the opportunity to get more playing time in the G League, where they can really hone their skills through in-game action.

Thus far, there’s no question the two-way program has been a success for both teams and players, and multiple very promising careers have already sprung up through two-way contracts.

Below, check out our ranking of the 10 most successful players who started their NBA careers on two-way deals.

Despite career-night for Dort, the Jazz outlast the Thunder, 106-96

Luguentz Dort’s career-high 42 points wasn’t enough to save the Thunder, as they fall 106-96 to the Utah Jazz.

In the first 12 minutes of tonight’s game, you may have thought two things: the Oklahoma City Thunder were going to upset the league’s best team, the Utah Jazz, and that Luguentz Dort would have the best game of his young career.

Well, one of those things came to fruition.

Luguentz Dort had a career-night tonight, scoring a career-high 42 points on 16-of-31 shooting from the floor and 7-of-11 from downtown, along with 7 rebounds, 3 assists, and 4 steals. Yet, Dort and the Thunder fell short of knocking off the Jazz as Utah outlasted Oklahoma City 106-96.

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From the opening tip, Dort came out firing — and hitting, scoring 18 first quarter points on 4-of-4 from 3-point land as the Thunder took a 31-22 lead over the Jazz at the end of one.

Though after the first, the Jazz took control in the second and third quarters, outscoring the Thunder a combined 66-38, helping Utah put the game away despite a hard-fought 18 fourth quarter points from Dort. Bojan Bogdanovic led the way for Utah with 23 points and 7 rebounds.

Dort joined elite Thunder company tonight, becoming only the sixth Thunder player ever to score 40 points in a game. In Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s absence and a rebuilding roster surrounding him, the Arizona State product continues to impress as a two-way player, specifically his growth on the offensive end, and is certainly outplaying the contract he signed last season.

Moses Brown notched another double-double for the Thunder, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. Guard Ty Jerome was productive off the bench in 19 minutes, finishing with 14 points.

The Thunder were notably missing Aleksej Pokusevski, who was out due to right arm soreness. Poku left Saturday’s game against the Philadelphia 76ers early with the arm discomfort.

Oklahoma City will have a quick turnaround tomorrow night as the Golden State Warriors come to Chesapeake Energy Arena.

This post originally appeared on OKCThunderWire. Follow us on Facebook!

Lu Dort’s former ASU teammate Zylan Cheatham may be joining the Thunder

The Thunder’s trade of Steven Adams netted them Zylan Cheatham, who played at Arizona State University with Lu Dort.

The Oklahoma City Thunder’s trade of Steven Adams includes Zylan Cheatham, according to The Athletic’s Shams Charania.

In order for the four-way deal to work, Oklahoma City had to pick up extra salary from the New Orleans Pelicans. One such way was acquiring Cheatham, who was given a three-year contract with the first year guaranteed to allow the deal go through, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks.

Oklahoma City’s roster is well over the limit of allowable players, so Cheatham may be one of the casualties when the team has to start making cuts, but should he join the Thunder, there will be a familiar face on the team.

Cheatham spent a season at Arizona State University with now-Thunder wing Luguentz Dort.

The two started together for the Sun Devils in the 2018-19 season. Dort, a freshman, averaged a team-high 16.1 points, while Cheatham, a redshirt senior who had transferred from San Diego State, manned the post and collected a team-high 10.3 rebounds while averaging a double-double.

Cheatham made the All-Pac 12 First Team, Dort the Second Team, and both were named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.

The two helped lead ASU to a record of 23-11 (12-6, 2nd in Pac-12) and reach the NCAA Tournament.

Neither were drafted in 2019. Cheatham signed with the Pelicans and spent most of the season in the G League, where he averaged 16.2 points and 11.6 rebounds.

Dort joined Oklahoma City and started the season with the Blue. It didn’t take long for him to make the jump to the Thunder and earn a role in the rotation.

Cheatham will hope he gets the opportunity to do the same as his former — and new — teammate.

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Austin Rivers: Rockets ‘couldn’t wait’ to get Lu Dort off the court

The Rockets guard also admitted that he initially didn’t know who Luguentz Dort was prior to facing the Thunder in the first round.

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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort entered the postseason as a relatively unknown player to much of the basketball community but the undrafted rookie certainly didn’t finish that way.

Dort emerged as a key player during the first round of the playoffs versus the Houston Rockets, a series that saw the Rockets advance following a Game 7 win. Dort averaged 12.5 points and 3.7 rebounds and closed out the series by scoring a career-high 30 points in the final game, a Thunder rookie scoring record in a playoff game.

While Dort closed out the series on a high note, it was perhaps his defense on James Harden that captivated basketball fans. He held Harden to 10.8 points on 31.4% shooting from the field, including 26.3% from 3-point range, as his primary defender throughout the seven-game series, according to NBA tracking data.

Dort earned high praise from Harden afterward as the two players each attended Arizona State and have trained together in the past. He also earned a bit of praise from Rockets guard Austin Rivers, who admitted recently on Instagram Live that he initially didn’t know who Dort was.

Dort is crazy! I’m not even going to lie, I didn’t even know who that was. That dude was sliding them feet on everybody! We couldn’t wait to get him off of the court. We couldn’t wait, man. He felt like a [expletive] fullback, a linebacker.

Dort proved to be a key piece the Thunder can build around in the future. Once he can develop a consistent offensive game, he has the potential to develop into one of the best two-way players in the league given his ability on defense.

Suffice to say, the Thunder hit a home run with the signing of Dort…

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An emotional Lu Dort called it a ‘blessing’ to be with the Thunder

Thunder forward Luguentz Dort held back tears when he reflected on his rookie season following a Game 7 loss to the Rockets.

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Oklahoma City Thunder forward Luguentz Dort became emotional on Wednesday when reflecting back on his first season in the NBA following a Game 7 loss to the Houston Rockets.

Dort, who went undrafted last year, started the season off in the G League with the OKC Blue and wouldn’t make his NBA debut until December. After a few appearances, Dort returned to the G League but would re-join the Thunder for good in January.

He entered the starting lineup on Jan. 20 and wouldn’t look back.

Dort averaged 7.6 points and 2.5 rebounds in 28 games as a starter during the regular season and instantly became the team’s top defender. He often guarded the best player on the opposing team and frequently found success in that role.

Dort entered the NBA Draft projected to be a first-round pick by some so it was rather surprising when he didn’t hear his name called. He experienced quite a few ups and downs this season and that emotion surfaced on Wednesday as he wiped away tears when discussing his rookie season after the Thunder were defeated, 104-102.

It was tough going undrafted and this team just gave me a lot of confidence. From the vets — Chris [Paul], Dennis [Schroder], [Danilo Gallinari], Steve-O [Adams], Coach Billy [Donovan], Sam [Presti] — they just gave me a lot of confidence and they really trusted me.

It’s a blessing just to be here, me coming from Montreal and being here with all of these guys. The way we played, it didn’t end up our way but it was big. It was a hell of a season I had and I’m grateful for that.

Dort saved his best performance of the season for what became the final game.

He scored a playoff-career-high 30 points on Wednesday while he shot 6-of-12 from 3-point range. The performance came two games after a historically bad shooting performance in Game 5 in which he shot 3-of-16 from the field and 0-of-9 from beyond the arc.

Dort set the Thunder rookie scoring record in a playoff game and he became the youngest player (21 years, 136 days) in NBA history to score 30 points in a Game 7. He joined Kobe Bryant and LeBron James as the only players to score at least 25 points in a Game 7 before the age of 22.

Despite the shooting struggles, Dort appeared to be relatively unfazed. While most players may have been hesitant to shoot following that performance, Dort continued to play aggressively and finally found success.

Donovan applauded his effort to bounce back from a tough Game 5 outing.

It was one of the most impressive things that I have seen out of a player that young. Here is a guy that was in the G League, never got drafted, was a two-way player and here he comes up and we had some injuries and comes in the starting lineup and in a significant playoff game, he goes 3-for-16 and 0-of-9. If that doesn’t show you the mental toughness of a guy to be able to come back and play as well as he did in Game 6 after that Game 5 and then come back today and play better and also focus on guarding James Harden. I was really impressed with him.

Perhaps even more daunting for Dort, he drew the assignment of guarding Harden throughout the series.

While it is nearly impossible to shut down Harden, Dort found success against him at times. Dort held Harden to 10.8 points on 31.4% shooting from the field, including 26.3% from 3-point range, as his primary defender throughout the series, according to NBA tracking data.

Despite just taking part in a heated playoff battle, Dort and Harden shared a moment with each other after the game. They each played at Arizona State and have trained together in the past and the former MVP offered high praise for Dort.

I’ve seen him since college when I would go back to Arizona State. He worked his butt off and it’s showing. Obviously, he played extremely well tonight. On the offensive end, he made a lot of shots. He just played his butt off. He doesn’t care about anything but playing hard. As a young guy coming into this league, that’s all you need to ask for.

Learning how to play and learning defensive schemes and offensive schemes, and the total packaging of being an NBA player is going to come but he has the right mindset of just playing hard and playing balls to the wall. He is going to have a great career.

Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images

When the Thunder pulled off one of the biggest heists ever in the Paul George and Russell Westbrook trades, in which they acquired potentially as many as 13 future first-round picks, the thought was the team had likely acquired several future stars.

Little did they know, they already had one of them on the roster…

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NBA players react to Luguentz Dort’s 30-point performance in Game 7

From Dwyane Wade to Trae Young, Thunder rookie Luguentz Dort had social media talking after pouring in a playoff-career-high 30 points.

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After setting a playoff-career-high in Game 7, Luguentz Dort quickly set social media on fire on Wednesday. However, his effort was not enough as the Oklahoma City Thunder narrowly lost to the Houston Rockets, 104-102.

Entering the evening, Dort had averaged nine points in five games during the series while he shot just 18.4% (7-of-38) from 3-point range. Dort finished with a game-high 30 points on Wednesday and went 6-of-12 from beyond the arc in 35 minutes of work.

Though Dort struggled to shoot, his teammates continued to encourage him to shoot the ball. He listened to that advice and nearly put his team in a position to advance to the Western Conference semifinals and a matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers.

The performance capped off a strong second half to his rookie campaign after he became a full-time starter in January. While his season came to an end, he went out with a bang and earned high praise from several current, former and future NBA players on social media.

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