The Oklahoma City Thunder drew first blood against Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks with a resounding 117-95 victory in Game 1 of their Western Conference Semifinals series. While the whole OKC squad deserves praise, one player’s heroic defensive performance was the story of the night – the relentless, smothering, lockdown coverage of Lu Dort on Doncic.
The Undrafted Defensive Menace Dort went undrafted out of Arizona State in 2019 but has transformed himself into one of the NBA’s premier pests and defensive irritants. Though undersized at 6’3″ and 215 pounds, Dort’s powerful frame, stupefying footspeed, and unlimited motor allow him to harass and bother even the most dynamic offensive forces.
On Tuesday night, the 24-year-old Canadian was a one-man wrecking crew hellbent on making life miserable for Doncic. The Mavs’ superstar managed just 19 points on a putrid 6-for-19 shooting performance that included a 1-of-8 dud from three-point range. Those pedestrian numbers are incredibly out of character for a player who poured in 33.9 points per game during the regular season.
“He’s just a warrior,” Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault gushed about Dort’s defensive tenacity. “He brings the juice every single night. Doncic is a really hard matchup and a great player who didn’t have his best pitch tonight. He’s going to play better than this, but Lu made it hard on him.”
An Insatiable Defensive Appetite Dort’s defensive dominance isn’t happenstance. It’s the byproduct of an obsessive, borderline maniacal work ethic and commitment to thwarting the opposition’s best scorers.
The Montreal native spends countless hours devouring film, engulfing himself in the intricacies and tendencies of each offensive threat he faces. Against Doncic, Dort’s study was centered on forcing exhausting, high degree-of-difficulty shots.
“My biggest thing was to try to stay in front of him,” Dort explained with satisfaction. “Everything had to be contested…I was really just trying to move my feet and stay in front of him.”
While Dort’s on-ball pestering was sensational, he did have some struggles with overaggressive fouling at times. The tenacious defender racked up 5 fouls across his 26 minutes of action, repeatedly having to grind through contact against Doncic’s brawny 6’7″ frame.
“I’ve got to show my hands,” Dort said about cleaning up the foul woes. “If the refs can’t see my hands, they don’t know what’s going on…One of the biggest keys was not to foul (Doncic). I didn’t really do a good job of that. I’ve got to watch film and get better.”
For Dort, that level of accountability and commitment to self-improvement is simply the cost of doing business in his profession.
“At the end of the day, it’s my job,” Dort stated matter-of-factly. “I love this job. I’ve been blessed with this job to be able to take care of my family and myself…I really enjoy that.”
A Defensive Masterclass Dort’s suffocating coverage set an immediate tone, quickly taking the thunder out of Doncic from the opening tip. While the Slovenian sniper did manufacture some looks at the foul line by earning 10 free throw attempts, he could never quite find his trademark rhythm.
Dort’s combination of strength, speed, and sheer doggedness contesting every shot forced Doncic into a steady diet of awkward, high degree-of-difficulty attempts. The two-time All-NBA First Teamer looked gassed at times, perhaps due to the quick turnaround from Dallas’ grueling six-game series against the feisty Clippers and a lingering knee issue.
But Dort’s persistence, physicality, and sheer force of will still deserve immense credit for throwing Doncic out of sorts. When you hold an elite scorer over 14 points below his average, that’s a wildly impactful performance.
The Mavericks will surely tinker with some adjustments heading into Game 2 – perhaps running more offensive sets designed to free up Doncic or get him switched away from Dort’s clutches. But if the Thunder’s defensive menace can maintain his laser-focused intensity and continue smothering one of the sport’s most unstoppable scorers, OKC will be in prime position to seize a commanding 2-0 series advantage.
In a series chock-full of stars like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Kyrie Irving and Doncic himself, the undrafted underdog Dort has unexpectedly emerged as perhaps the most pivotal performer through the opening salvo. His intoxicating blend of physical tools and relentless, pass-no-oxygen defensive work ethic render him a nightmare matchup for even the game’s most elite offensive talents. Doncic and Dallas got an up-close look at the Thunder’s disruptive, game-wrecking defensive force in Game 1 – a maniacal, defensive masterclass from Lu Dort.
