After Slow Start, Lu Dort Already Providing Big Impact for Thunder
The Oklahoma City Thunder have played six games in the early stages of this season and they’re 3-3 in those games. Lu Dort has found some early struggles this season, averaging 14 points per game and he’s done so inefficiently. After he took another step forward on that end last season, it was expected he would bring the same impact on that end, and we haven’t seen that yet.
He’s still been able to put up a decent amount of points while struggling, and of course, we’re still in the early parts of this season and he can easily turn his game around. In the first few games, Dort seemed uninvolved and out of place on offense. He’s since looked better and is taking the right looks on offense. He just hasn’t found his efficiency which will hopefully come soon.
The Thunder picked up an impressive win over the Dallas Mavericks most recently, and Dort played an integral role in that win. Luka Doncic, who is the leading scorer on the season, may have scored 31 points, but he did so primarily at the free throw line as Dort was playing incredible defense on Doncic.
He shot below 35% and got locked up on the final possession where he could have hit the game winner.
It may have been lost somewhere in Dort’s offensive emergence, but he’s a top defender in the league, and he’s got that respect from stars.
"He's one of the top-three defenders in the NBA. It's really tough to play against him," Doncic told reporters after the game. There’s respect to Dort on that end from one of the best scorers the NBA has right now.
So, while his offensive has taken a slight dip in the early stages of this season, he still brings an incredible, winning impact to the squad.
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