With the sheer volume of top-notch defenders residing on this OKC Thunder roster, there's a case to be made that Lu Dort's services on the less glamorous side of the ball have flown somewhat under-the-radar here in 2025-26.
After their latest matchup against Cleveland, however, star guard Donovan Mitchell reminded the masses of just how disruptive and dominant he truly is.
Over their last three matchups, the Cavs' cornerstone has been held to sub-15 scoring efforts twice. Monday's MLK Day bout served as his best from a counting stats standpoint, as he finished with 19 points, though he did so on a highly inefficient 27.8 percent shooting from the floor and 11.1 percent from deep.
Following their 136-104 loss to the defending champions, coach Kenny Atkinson was rather quick to chalk Mitchell's struggles against Oklahoma City up to the sheer fact that he's had to deal with Dort being his primary defender, noting that he's "one of the best defenders in the league."
The ninth-year veteran only corroborated this specific narrative during his post-game media session, telling reporters that while he's certainly "had good nights against him" throughout their respective careers, these last few matchups, "he's made it tough on me."
His averages of 12.7 points on 22.4 percent shooting from the floor and 20.0 percent shooting from deep when playing against Dort over these past two, compared to his overall averages of 25.8 points on 45.9 percent shooting from the floor and 37.4 percent shooting from distance throughout this span, only further strengthen just how challenging it has been for Mitchell to produce against OKC.
Thunder stud Lu Dort a nightmare matchup for Donovan Mitchell
Throughout his seven-year career with the club, Dort has ingratiated himself with this Oklahoma City fanbase due, in large part, to his mesmerizing defensive abilities.
After earning his first, long-awaited All-NBA nod last season, the 26-year-old once again finds himself playing a major role for the top-seeded Thunder, especially on the nitty-gritty side of the floor, where he clocks in with an elite defensive rating of 105.2 for the number-one defensive unit.
On top of this, he also ranks ninth in the league in contested three-point shots, 11 in opponent field goal percentage (42.5), and 12 in opponent plus-minus (-12.0) among those who have played in 25 or more games this year.
Though Mitchell has certainly has his fair share of struggles against the beloved Thunder guard, based on the advanced metrics, he's far from the only one to have felt his wrath.
He's merely just his latest victim.