Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort’s injury status remains in the air after he injured his knee against the Miami Heat on Wednesday.
“We’re going to take it day by day with Lu,” head coach Billy Donovan said Sunday afternoon in a Zoom call with media.
“He’s progressing. We feel positive about the improvements he’s made. Hopefully he can continue on that path and get him back sooner.”
The first round of the playoffs begins in two days. Dort would have been one of the primary Thunder players to get time guarding Houston Rockets star James Harden.
If he is unable to go, Oklahoma City will have to adjust.
Donovan listed Hamidou Diallo, Terrance Ferguson and Dennis Schroder as three other options the Thunder have for one-on-one play against Harden.
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However, with the way Houston switches on defense, there will be plenty of times in transition that Oklahoma City won’t be able to get their preferred defender on Harden, or Russell Westbrook, once the point guard returns.
“Because they switch a lot on defense, you’re going to be cross-matched a lot. You could have any one of a number of players on (Harden) on a missed shot because he could be guarding our center,” Donovan said.
By the coach’s reasoning, even if Dort were to be available, other players would need to be capable of defending Harden.
“We’ve gotta understand that it’s gotta be a team effort, and we’ve gotta do a great job helping each other and communicating with one another.”
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