Lu Dort breaks down matchup against Tyrese Haliburton ahead of 2025 NBA Finals

USA Today

2 days ago

Lu Dort breaks down matchup against Tyrese Haliburton ahead of 2025 NBA Finals
Routing their way to the 2025 NBA Finals, the Oklahoma City Thunder have relied on the same defensive principles to clinch their spot in the championship round and made the Western Conference look like a cupcake walk — take out the opposition's best guard.
From Ja Morant to Jamal Murray to Anthony Edwards, the Thunder have turned the opposition's high-dynamic perimeter scorers into passive facilitators. Next up will be Tyrese Haliburton. Fueled by overrated allegations from his peers, he's been the face of Indiana's unlikely NBA Finals run.
Haliburton has been featured in late-game heroics. He's averaged 18.8 points and 9.8 assists in the playoffs. It's the perfect blend of running the offense and hunting his shots. Against the Thunder, he'll likely be asked to be a bigger scorer if the Pacers want to pull off the all-time upset.
Good luck doing that against Lu Dort. In two regular-season losses, Haliburton was limited to 11 points and 5.5 assists. They were two of his lowest usage rate games of the season. He was fazed out as OKC forced Indiana to make Andrew Nembhard the primary ball-handler.
Don't fix what's not broken. Expect the Thunder to rely on Dort as Haliburton's primary matchup. He's been OKC's go-to stopper throughout his five years and was finally recognized for it with his first career All-Defensive Team membership this season.
'He's a good player. He's their main guy obviously. He has the ball a lot," Dort said about Haliburton. "The way I approach any matchup is I gotta make it tough. Not only me but the whole team.'
How Dort limits Haliburton will tell a lot about how these NBA Finals go. When he's off the floor, expect Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace to get their chances to slow down the All-Star player. If the Thunder can repeat their regular-season success and turn him into a secondary ball-handler, that'll help their odds of winning the championship.