In the days after he missed Game 1, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort showed that he can be a player who slows down Houston Rockets guard James Harden.
Could he be an offensive option? In Game 5, he looked like a player who couldn’t make a shot and may not be able to be played in big moments late in the series.
Yet coaches and teammates told him he needs to shoot when the Rockets play off him.
Head coach Billy Donovan: “He needs to stop hesitating and then trying to shooting. He’s gotta shoot it. It was good to see those two shots go in.”
Point guard Chris Paul said he told Dort, “If they back off of you, you shoot it.”
In Game 7, he proved he can do it on offense too. After scoring 18 points in the first quarter, Dort hit a 3-pointer about four minutes into the third to set a Thunder rookie playoff record with 21 points.
The previous record? It was set by James Harden, the player Dort is now defending. Harden scored 18 points in Game 3 of the 2011 series against the Los Angeles Lakers.
When Dort set the record, he was 7-for-15 from the field — the 15 shots were the most attempted by any player in the game at that time — and was 5-for-8 from 3.
His 21 points led both teams midway through the third quarter, when the Thunder trailed Houston 72-67.
Dort’s career high this season is 23 points.
