A 21-year-old rookie is suddenly wreaking havoc on James Harden and the Rockets
- Oklahoma City Thunder rookie Luguentz Dort has helped the Thunder even their first-round series with the Houston Rockets at 2-2 with his defense on James Harden.
- Harden has been inefficient shooting the ball with Dort guarding him, and the Rockets have had to change their offensive scheme to free Harden of Dort.
- Dort is a non-factor on offense, but the Thunder have an elite defensive mark with the 21-year-old on the floor and have outscored the Rockets in his minutes.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have won two straight games to even up their first-round series with the Houston Rockets.
While he's not solely responsible for Oklahoma City's turnaround, rookie guard Luguentz Dort has played a huge part in the Thunder's last two wins.
Dort, an undrafted rookie out of Arizona State, missed Game 1 of the series. Since returning for Game 2, he has done an admirable job guarding James Harden, quite possibly the best offensive basketball player in the world.
According to The Athletic's Seth Partnow, Dort has guarded Harden for 43.8% of the series. During that time, Dort has made Harden work for his points. According to Cohen, Harden is 6-of-27 from three with Dort as his primary defender. And Harden has scored just seven points on 13 isolation possessions against Dort, according to Partnow.
But as Partnow argued, defensive field goal percentage is a flawed stat to measure wing players because of all of the variables that go into every possession. Indeed, sometimes the best defense from a wing player means that the player they are guarding doesn't shoot at all.
As Partnow noted, Harden leads the NBA in isolation plays. Harden easily blows by defenders, draws help, and sets up teammates. The Rockets traded away center Clint Capela this February, in part, because pick-and-rolls actually made Harden and the Rockets less effective on offense.
But since Dort's return in Game 2, the Rockets have set way more ball screens to free Harden of Dort. After setting 47 ball screens in Games 1 and 2, the Rockets set 94 total in Games 3 and 4.
Not only is Dort making Harden work, but he's also changing the Rockets' offensive scheme.
The Rockets let threes fly freely, but Harden has settled for deep shots at times as if he is not up to the task of beating Dort off the dribble.
In Dort's 97 minutes on the floor in the series, the Thunder have allowed 101.4 points per possessions — 11 points better than their defensive rating for the series, and a mark that would rank first among playoff teams if it were sustained.
Dort has received high praise from Chris Paul in the playoffs.
"Lu was special," Paul said. "Lu was unbelievable how he accepts the challenge. He had to listen to me yelling at him all game about what to do," Paul said. "He's just one of those guys that deserves to be here, and I'm glad to see him having success."
Of course, for all of his defensive excellency, Dort is also something of a liability on offense. He's shooting just 30% from the field, and 21.7% from three in the playoffs, and the Thunder's offensive rating plummets to 102.8 with him on the floor, six points worse than their average.
Still, Dort has the makings of the type of player every team covets — a multi-position wing stopper, with the potential to one day contribute on offense. His impact on one end of the court is already great enough that the Thunder are winning when he is on the floor.
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