Darius Bazley Ready for Biggest Defensive Test of the Season
Darius Bazley will face his biggest test of the young NBA season on Sunday.
The third-year forward has had a nice start to the season, averaging 11.7 points, 6.9 rebounds and 1.5 assists per game while shooting 43.2 percent from the field.
But he’s also embracing his role defensively taking on some of the most difficult challenges in the league.
When Brooklyn comes to town, it will be the first time Kevin Durant has played in Oklahoma City since 2018, and it’ll be the most difficult defensive assignment Bazley has been tasked with through 11 games.
Defensive stopper Lu Dort often draws the difficult defensive assignment, and he’ll have his hands full again with James Harden, but Bazley isn’t used to facing a shot creator the caliber of Durant.
Not only can he make defenders look silly off the dribble, Durant’s length and release point mean he can negate a slow close-out, so Bazley will have to stay in his pocket all night long.
“Durant, he shoots over you,” OKC head coach Mark Daigneault said after practice on Saturday. “He’s going to need contests all night. He’s going to take a lot of those shots and Baze is gonna be on him.”
Daigneault said he’s been pleased with how Bazley has played defensively as he’s gotten more accustomed to how best keep the Thunder defending as a team.
"There’s times, especially in help for guys, you could be running towards the ball because you’re trying to make a play and being aggressive and trying to help your teammate, but if it’s not in sync with the rest of the rotation then you could be leaving us out to dry on the next pass out," Daigneault said.
"He’s really trying to amp it up and think, 'man, I’ve got to go out there and compete.' But now it’s like you’ve got to do that and you have to have hand discipline. So yeah, there’s definitely a balance there."
And Bazley has made a ton of progress, playing within the framework of the entire time, allowing Oklahoma City to shoot up defensive rankings over the course of their four-game winning streak.
But on Sunday, Bazley will have a different task entirely.
He’ll be on an island, as Durant is one of the most gifted iso scorers in the history of the NBA. But if Bazley can have success on Sunday night, it could give him the confidence to take his play to an even higher level this year for the Thunder.
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