Lu Dort Carries Impressive NBA Cup Past as Thunder Enter Semifinals

Throughout his career, Thunder guard Luguentz Dort has been known for tough, physical defense, along with a streaky offensive game. He has played in a wide variety of roles throughout his career, from a bench stopper as a rookie to a first option at times throughout the Thunder's rebuild.

No matter what, Dort has shown he has a knack for playing high-level basketball when the stakes are the highest. For example, he hit timely shots throughout Oklahoma City's NBA Finals run and his historic 30-point Game 7 performance as a rookie in the 2020 bubble.

'Big-game Lu' travels to the world of the Emirates NBA Cup as well, with the Arizona State star shining bright for the three seasons of the competition. In his career in the cup, Dort has averaged 10.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 1.1 assists per game in 15 career appearances.

Dort has hit 43.8% of his three-pointers and 42% of his overall field goals in that time span. He has an overall plus-minus of +102.

In the Thunder's first-ever game in the competition in 2023 loss against the Golden State Warriors, when it was called the In-Season Tournament, Dort tallied 29 points on six threes. The Thunder, missing Shai Gilgeous-Alexander for that game, brought the Warriors to the brink behind that strong performance by Dort. OKC would go on to win 57 games and make the playoffs for the first time in three seasons that year.

Now, as the Thunder enter the semifinals of the 2025 NBA Cup, with a matchup against De'Aaron Fox (and potentially Victor Wembanyama) and the San Antonio Spurs set for Saturday, Dec. 13, in Las Vegas, Nevada, a high-level performance from Dort could be crucial. Oklahoma City's depth is immense to begin with, but adding in another clutch performance from a player who has a knack for the timely triple would make the 24-1 Thunder even more unstoppable.

To compare, in the Thunder's only other NBA Cup semifinals appearance, last season on Dec. 14, 2024, against the Houston Rockets, Dort scored 19 points on five threes, along with nine rebounds, as the Thunder coasted past the Rockets 111-96. Dort took the Fred VanVleet assignment on the night, picking up three steals as his matchup shot just 3-of-15.

In OKC's previous game, against the Phoenix Suns in the quarterfinals, Dort knocked down three threes, all in the second quarter, scoring 12 points as his team steamrolled the opposition, 138-89. His triples were timely, as they helped bubble the Thunder's lead to something untouchable.

Dort's defense and offense are important to OKC for any game of this magnitude. Another strong performance in a big moment from Dort could propel the Thunder to their second consecutive NBA Cup Finals appearance.