Best moments of 2021 for the OKC Thunder
By Rylan Stiles
Oklahoma City Thunder see Lu Dort hit his first-ever buzzer-beating game-winner
Empty arenas, quarantine, trapped seating, losing streaks, missed shots, useless games, many trades, and ping pong pain littered the dreaded year that was 2021…and 2020…and hopefully not 2022. There were few bright spots for the Oklahoma City Thunder, for the National Basketball Association, or human life in general.
One of the happiest moments of the 2021 calendar year came way back in February. The Oklahoma City Thunder welcomed in the San Antonio Spurs to an empty arena, then called Chesapeake Energy Arena, in downtown Bricktown.
In a tie game, 99-99, three seconds remained on the clock. Fresh off an inbound pass from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to Al Horford, the Veteran big man drove to the lane seeing Lu Dort’s defender attempt to get in position to take the charge then play the passing lanes and end the possession, Horford fired a pass to the corner.
The ball went to cult hero, Arizona State product, fantastic defender, and at the time a surprising offensive performer, Luguentz Dort. He caught the ball with just 1.9 seconds on the clock, launching a triple from the corner with the bench on their feet and the Spurs defense scurrying, and drilled it as the backboard glowed red ending the game with a dagger three.
As soon as the ball touched the net, the buzzer sounded and Dort, who still has not put his shooting hand down, dropped to the floor. After a fist pump that could have knocked Mike Tyson out, Horford raced over to Dort, Darius Bazley met him there first pouncing on the shooting guard, eventually, the entire time climbed on the undrafted guard.
This was the first buzzer-beater of his basketball career, much less his young NBA career. A special moment for Lu Dort, that spunky team, and the fanbase that just simply needed some feel-good in an otherwise difficult year.