OKC Thunder player grades: Dort’s career night fails to beat Jazz

OKC Thunder starting lineup grades:

Not a banner night for rookie Theo Maledon who struggled with his shot (1 of 6) and was also tasked with a tough defensive assignment. Although Lu was back to take on the major task of limiting sniper Donovan Mitchell that still left another backcourt savant Mike Conley to address.

It’s trial by fire for Theo who is getting a quick education and compiling a portfolio of experience he’ll be able to draw from as the team improves and grows.

While it’s not always pretty or productive these experiences will prove invaluable over the long term.

In his second game back after missing seven due to the concussion protocol program Luguentz Dort was a one-man wrecking crew.

As the primary defender on Spida Mitchell, he was a factor forcing Mitchel to shoot 7 of 16. Donovan was the only minus of the starters in the plus/minus column for the Jazz and having to defend Dort he also picked up an uncharacteristic five personal fouls.

But who am I kidding, the headline on the Dorture Chamber for his evening was his career-best 42 point effort. He came out hot and finished hot although it’s unlikely he expected to take 31 field goal attempts (the same amount as the rest of his starting linemates).

He shot 16 of 31 from the field, connected on seven 3-pointers (of 11 attempts) with the only mark on his efficiency coming at the line where he shot 3 of 7. Dort added three assists and four steals.

The most impressive part of his night in the narrator’s opinion was his mid-range game which has grown dramatically. Knowing his work ethic, it’s only a matter of time before he adds moves inside where his strength will afford him the opportunity to finish against big men.

While the consistency isn’t always a given, the fact he’s guarding the top offensive weapon nightly and still pulling off offensive games like this bodes extremely well for the future.