Luguentz Dort

From the first breath of any championship conversations the 2024-25 Oklahoma City Thunder join, it’s likely that any icebreaker or “fun fact” about them begins with their historic, No. 1-ranked defense. With the regular-season spotlight at its brightest against the defending-champion Boston Celtics, Luguentz Dort used a game-clinching, nine-points-in-two-minutes stretch, reaffirming their ability to be much more. The forecast — unfortunately for Boston’s defense — called for both thunder and rainfall at the fourth quarter’s 2:22 mark, with Dort first turning Kristaps Porzingis’ overplay into a wide-open triple. Now approaching dagger shot-type territory, Dort, in perfect mental lockstep with his Most Valuable Player-caliber teammates, catches from the corner, letting fly a triple that all but finishes Oklahoma City’s demonstration on January 5, 2025. Draining another thereafter, Dort left the could-be NBA Finals preview as a bonafide X-factor, tallying 14 points, six rebounds, one steal, one block, and just a 15.4 shot percentage allowed (2-of-13) as the nearest defender.