Lu Dort Rediscovers Sliver of Offensive Confidence in Win Over Nuggets

Behind a 34-point performance from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, along with shooting 42.3% on 11 made threes, Oklahoma City grinded out a win versus the Denver Nuggets – without Nikola Jokic – to reclaim the No. 2 seed in the West.

The Thunder was forced to fight back from as much as a 13-point deficit mounted by the Nuggets in the first half, and had to do so without an injured Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe – who missed the game following a couple relatively non-serious injuries against Minnesota on Monday night.

As Williams suffered a right ankle sprain and Joe with a bruised sternum, this was the most injury-bugged version this Thunder team has had to unveil all season long – a testament to the physical shape this team is in, as well as a bit of luck.

Head coach Mark Daigneault told media pregame he'd be surprised if Williams and Joe suit up for the next couple games. 

With such impactful injuries, the team needed a spark or two from the bench, as well as a strong performance from its starters.

And in their absence, Lu Dort was able to establish a bit of his scoring ability versus Denver – something he'd been really struggling to recoup in the back half of January. 

Though, it was still an inefficient 3-of-11, seven-point outing from the field for the defensive-minded guard, it seemed a bit of confidence was reestablished in his late-game three to put the Thunder up double-digits.

And a sigh of relief seemed to be had as well.

Dort has visibly struggled with consistency as a shooter throughout his career, and the majority of that inconsistency stems from a lack of faith.

Harping back to December, his confidence was at an all-time high as both an outside shooter and overall scorer, shooting 47.6% from the field, 42.9% from three, while averaging 12.3 points a night in his starting role.

And into the beginning of the New Year, he was maintaining that level of efficiency. But that had taken a turn in Oklahoma City's last six outings – shooting an abysmal 4-of-30 from the 3-point line in that span, and just 9-of-41 from the field for just 4.5 points on top of that.

Dort is not in his starting position due to his offensive capabilities, of course, but when he is able to provide an offensive spark, the Thunder benefit from it immensely.

As he aims to climb back to his occasional 20-point form with consistent efficiency, he'll need to find that same incitement to once again instill conscious optimism into his offensive game.

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