Lu Dort Bounces Back With Stellar Showing Against Raptors

In Friday's game against the Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Luguentz Dort did not play his best basketball, shooting 1-for-9 from the floor and 0-for-5 from three-point range, boasting a -17 plus-minus in a three-point loss. Amid dissatisfaction from fans online, he needed to bounce back in his next showing against the Toronto Raptors.

In the absence of multiple key Thunder players, including Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein, Ajay Mitchell and Jalen Williams, someone needed to step up. Dort rose to the task, despite the loss.

Due to the Thunder's injuries, Dort was asked to garner more ball-handling reps than he is used to, but he succeeded.

In the Thunder's 103-101 loss to the Raptors, Dort tallied a season-high 19 points, along with eight rebounds, two assists and two steals. The Canadian guard drilled four three-point shots on eight attempts, tallying a 77.9% true-shooting.

In a game the Thunder shot poorly from behind the arc, at 25.6%, Dort was one of the few bright spots. He was the only Thunder player to shoot above 40% from distance on the night, at 50%.

Poor shooting has been an issue for Oklahoma City since the year flipped over, but if Dort can bring consistency back to his game from three-point range, it would be a good starting point to fix it. Dort shot at or around 40% from deep in 2023-24 and 2024-25 and after a poor start to this season, he is now up to 35.9% from distance.

This game has come in the midst of Dort's best stretch of the season. In January, the 2024-25 All-Defensive First Teamer is averaging 9.9 points and 4.5 rebounds per game, shooting 38.7% from deep on 5.2 attempts a night through 12 games.

Dort had a stellar game, but it was not enough for the Thunder to win, with the team falling within one possession at home against an Eastern Conference foe for the second time in as many games. OKC did not lose a single regular-season game to the East last season, but this season, it's lost four.

When asked about the loss postgame, Dort kept it straight. "Throughout the game, there's a lot of stuff that we could have controlled," he said.

Dort knows the Raptors controlled the rebound battle and that "[the Raptors] got a lot in transition well." Those two issues are easy to fix.

The Thunder are in the midst of a rough patch of play, through injuries and rough late-game execution. Players like Dort stepping up can help this team flip momentum back to where it was at the beginning of the season.