OKC Thunder could be missing a lot vs Cavs

The OKC Thunder will wrap up their six-game home stand by welcoming the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Paycom Center in downtown Oklahoma City. This will be the second and final game against the Cavaliers this season. The last time these two squads faced off was a thrilling come-from-behind victory for the Thunder.

Oklahoma City found themselves down double-digits in Cleveland two weeks ago with just two minutes left. Somehow, this young Thunder team found a way to win, starting 2-0 for the first time since 2016.

In that game, the Cavs were without Darius Garland and Jarrett Allen. Tonight, the OKC Thunder could be missing a big part of the reason for their early season success.

The OKC Thunder could miss Lu Dort against Cleveland; who has to step up to shut down the Cavs’ offense?

The Oklahoma City Thunder have seen Lu Dort thrive in a new role. Before, the defensive ace struggled to play an efficient role on the offensive end. Now, Dort is taking on the challenge of confining himself on that end of the floor.

The result? A career-high in Field Goal Percentage, Three-point Percentage, and even Free Throw Percentage. The undrafted Rookie is also shooting a career-best mark at the rim (60 percent), on corner triples (50 percent), and non-corner threes (55 percent).

As more of a complimentary weapon, Lu Dort has been able to cash in 46 percent of his catch-and-shoot looks, which is good enough for an “excellent” label from Synergy. The change to him on the offensive game has only heightened his impact on defense.

Lu Dort is primarily tasked with defending the other team’s best players, a side of the floor the entire OKC Thunder organization hangs their hat on; he is the head of the snake. Now, Dort is tabbed as Questionable against the Cavs and was not seen at shoot around.

Mark Daigneault will officially label his status at 5:15 tonight ahead of tip-off, but if Dort is sidelined, who has to step up vs. a high-powered Cavs backcourt?

If Dort is sidelined, the OKC Thunder will have a decision to make. They can go to rookie Cason Wallace, who filled in for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander against the Warriors on Friday, in an attempt to Limit Cleveland’s backcourt. Or, the Thunder could start Jaylin Williams, sliding Jalen Williams to the small forward slot.

Jaylin Williams would be defending one of Mobley or Allen and Chet Holmgren taking on the other. At the same time, Jalen Williams slides up to help Shai Gilgeous-Alexander try to protect the Cleveland guards.

However, it would slightly limit the frontcourt depth for the Bricktown boys and throw off Mark Daigneault’s rotation.

Ultimately, I think Cason Wallace draws another tough assignment, asked to either lock up Donovan Mitchell or Darius Garland from the tip as the OKC Thunder search for a sweep of the Cavs.