OKC Thunder: 3 takeaways in late surge, eventual loss to Trail Blazers
By Ryan Lewis
The OKC Thunder have experienced it all this season. They’ve had quick starts and late collapses and slow starts and roaring comebacks. They have struggled to find a balance, but it certainly makes games more fun.
Tuesday night’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers played out the same way as the Thunder spent much of the first quarter searching for their shot while the Trail Blazers had zero problems with theirs.
The Trail Blazers led by as many as 24 points in the first half, with the Thunder closing the gap to 14 by halftime. Still, the Trail Blazers maintained a sizeable lead through the third quarter and into the fourth.
The OKC Thunder chipped away at the Trail Blazers’ lead in the fourth quarter, employing a suddenly surging offense and a lockdown defense to pull within striking distance of the lead. Midway through the fourth quarter, Luguentz Dort hit a 3-pointer on Hamidou Diallo’s assist, giving the Thunder a 98-97 lead.
The Thunder went on to extend their lead to five points before Lillard took over. That takeover saw Damian Lillard hit four 3-pointers in the final five minutes to push the Trail Blazers lead back to double digits, and that’s where it would stay as the Trail Blazers won the game 115-104.
In a game that saw six Thunder players hit double digits in the scoring column, the one that stood out the most was Dort. Dort’s 23 points led all Thunder players, and his defense kept Lillard locked in at average for much of the game.
That’s why Dort, in part, leads TI’s 3 takeaways.
OKC Thunder takeaway No. 1) Dame and Dort collide in OKC
When looking at Lillard’s 31 points, it’s hard to understand how effective the OKC Thunder, and more specifically, Dort, guarded the veteran point guard.
Lillard is clutch, and there are plenty of games in his career to look back on for proof, and several of those games have come against the Thunder. But you don’t have to look that far to find the most recent example because the game wrapped up just hours ago.
On Tuesday night, Lillard was an abysmal 1-for-8 on 3-point shots through the first three quarters. Heading into the fourth, Lillard was mostly a non-factor with 17 points. The Thunder needed to take him out of the game to have an opportunity to win, and the Thunder were successful in doing so through three quarters. Instead of Lillard, the Trail Blazers relied on the hot shooting of Anfernee Simons until he fouled out with 7:31 remaining in the game.
But as he has done so many times before, Lillard dominated the fourth quarter to propel the Blazers towards victory.
Dort stuck to Lillard, working around screens to stay in front of the sharpshooting guard. As bad as he had been shooting 3-pointers all night, the Thunder knew it only took one hit for Lillard to heat up. Dort’s defense was good enough to frustrate, anger, and shut down any number of lesser players.
But Lillard is just too good.
With Dort in his face and pestering him each time he touched the ball, Lillard was seemingly unbothered. He knocked down all four of his 3-pointers in the closing minutes, most of which were made well beyond the arc.
Dort should be praised for his defense. Most players aren’t Lillard. He should also be praised for what he could accomplish on offense despite the heavy workload on the opposite end of the court.
His 23 points came on 44.4 percent shooting. He hit three of his nine shots from deep, although one was mostly a throw-away shot at the end of the game. He also finished the game with six rebounds, three assists, and one steal.
He did it all for the OKC Thunder, but he couldn’t have done it alone.