Latest news with #LuDort
Toronto Sun
3 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Sun
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander leads Canadians taking starring roles in NBA Finals
Lu Dort, Andrew Nembhard and Bennedict Mathurin could also be big in series between Oklahoma City and Indiana. Get the latest from Ryan Wolstat straight to your inbox Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (left) and Luguentz Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder walk on the court during a stop in play. Getty Images There has never been an NBA Finals with as much Canadian flavour as the one set to tip on Thursday. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account While players like Jamal Murray and Andrew Wiggins have played key roles in the past in the biggest basketball series of the year and others like Dwight Powell, Tristan Thompson, Cory Joseph, Joel Anthony, Todd MacCulloch to Bill Wennington, Rick Fox and Mike Smrek have played bit parts, the 2025 matchup between Oklahoma City and Indiana is a completely different scenario. The best player in the series, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA MVP, hails from Hamilton. His teammate Lu Dort, arguably the best defensive player in these Finals, is from Montreal. Andrew Nembhard, who just helped lock down all-NBA New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson, might be Indiana's top defender and is from Aurora, Ont. The team's third-leading regular-season scorer, Bennedict Mathurin, is from the same Montreal-Nord neighbourhood as Dort and the two are close (not to mention Pacers scoring leader Pascal Siakam has spent a good portion of his life living in Toronto on his way to becoming an iconic Raptor). Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Canadians will have their fingerprints all over this matchup. The spotlight firmly will be on Gilgeous-Alexander, the sublime scoring machine. If he goes off, as he usually does, the heavily favoured Thunder should cruise to the franchise's first title (the 1979 NBA championship won by the Seattle Supersonics doesn't count). The Pacers will scheme to prevent that from happening and it's fitting that Nembhard, Gilgeous-Alexander's frequent teammate with Canada's national team, will be asked to do much of the heavy lifting in that regard. Nembhard had nine steals over the final two games against the Knicks, frustrating Brunson, and has had at least three swipes four times in these playoffs. Nembhard also has been a big threat at the other end, shooting 48.3% from three, matching his mark in 17 playoff games a year ago, while handing out 5.1 assists for the high-octane Pacers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. He's going to be important, too, both for what Indiana head coach Rick Carlisle will ask from him defensively, and for the pressure he'll take offensively off Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton. Haliburton will likely be hounded by Oklahoma City's defensive-stoppers Dort, Alex Caruso, Cason Wallace and Jaylen Williams. That was the case in the two regular-season matchups between the teams, with Nembhard tasked with running the offence more in those meetings. Expect Dort to be his usual aggressive self against the likes of Haliburton, Nembhard, Mathurin and Siakam. He was 11th in personal fouls in the regular season, is fourth in these playoffs and is built like a tank. Mathurin could be a wild card. Shifted back to the bench, the 22-year-old scoring guard has been inconsistent, but at times has provided points in bunches (like 20 in 12 minutes in Game 4 against New York and then 23 in 25 minutes in Game 6, and some big games earlier against Cleveland and Milwaukee). This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Read More And it's a nice touch that Mathurin and Dort at times likely will match up. Dort said on a recent conference call how big he thinks the moment will be for the city and its young basketball fans. And, like with Gilgeous-Alexander and Nembhard, Dort and Mathurin have trained and competed a lot against each other and know all of each other's tricks, adding another interesting subplot. Overall, Canadians should savour this moment because even though there are now so many in the NBA (only the United States produces more players, with Canada and France neck-and-neck annually for second), there's no guarantees that subsequent Finals will feature as many key Canucks. 'To see four homegrown players competing for an NBA championship is a testament to the depth, resilience and world-class players being developed in Canada,' Rowan Barrett, Canada Basketball's general manager and executive vice-president of men's high performance, said ahead of the Finals. 'We couldn't be prouder of what this means for our country and for the continued growth of the game.' Toronto & GTA Other Sports Ontario Soccer Canada
USA Today
2 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Lu Dort on Nikola Topic's recovery: 'You can see the talent'
Lu Dort on Nikola Topic's recovery: 'You can see the talent' At the end of shootaround every game day morning, you can guarantee that one of the last players left on the court is Nikola Topic. The 19-year-old recently reached the anniversary of his partially torn ACL that helped the Oklahoma City Thunder add him with the No. 12 pick of the 2024 NBA draft. As the Thunder are four wins away from a championship in their 2025 NBA Finals matchup against the Indiana Pacers, let's not forget about their redshirt lottery pick. Before his knee injury, Topic was viewed as a possible top-five selection. The 6-foot-6 playmaker gives OKC a redo on the Josh Giddey archetype but with more promising shooting touch. While the Thunder have ruled Topic out for the season, he's reached the point in his long-term recovery process where he can ramp up the physicality level. Whether they celebrate a championship, he will be the talk of the town during the 2025 summer league. Preparing for the NBA Finals, Lu Dort had a slip of the tongue moment. He was asked about Topic and his firsthand experience of seeing him spend the year rehabbing the background of a title contender. The 19-year-old has reached a point where he can play alongside his teammates. "He's been doing a lot of his recovery stuff but you can see the talent and how much more comfortable with the ball. Recently, he started playing with us and be a little more active with us," Dort said. "He's still getting back from his injury but I can see just how comfortable with the ball and the type of player he's going to be." The Thunder have a nearly flawless roster. The one hole you can poke at is the lack of a bench playmaker. While Ajay Mitchell was sufficient in that role before his toe sprain, that was still a spot the title contender could've targeted at the trade deadline to add. In comes Topic. He could be the long-term answer. If he can be a bench ball-handler and get to the basket, that'll be another solid role player to add to the Thunder's stupidly rich depth already. Don't even get started on what he could look like if his outside shot falls.
CBS News
23-05-2025
- Sport
- CBS News
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert makes All-Defensive Second Team
How Oklahoma City tried to block die-hard Timberwolves fans from scoring seats How Oklahoma City tried to block die-hard Timberwolves fans from scoring seats How Oklahoma City tried to block die-hard Timberwolves fans from scoring seats Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was named to the NBA's All-Defensive Second Team on Thursday, the eighth time he's earned All-Defensive honors in his career. Gobert made the First Team seven previous times. This is his first Second Team selection, and it comes one year after he won his fourth Defensive Player of the Year award. This season, the 7-foot-1 French center finished ninth in defensive win shares and had the 13th-best defensive rating. The Wolves finished sixth overall in defensive rating and fifth in points allowed per game. Teammate Jaden McDaniels, who finished one spot behind Gobert in defensive win shares, did not make either All-Defensive team. He made the Second Team last season. Gobert and the rest of the Wolves will need to step up in the Western Conference finals, where they currently trail the Oklahoma City Thunder 2-0. Game 3 is set for Saturday night at Target Center. Oklahoma City has two All-Defensive players — guard Lu Dort made the First Team and forward Jalen Williams made the Second Team. Note: The video above originally aired May 20, 2025.
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Associated Press
Edwards scores 32, but Thunder beat Timberwolves 118-103, go up 2-0 in Western Conference finals
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Anthony Edwards vowed to be more aggressive. The Minnesota Timberwolves' All-Star guard was held to 18 points on 13 shots in a blowout loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 1 of the Western Conference finals. He took twice as many shots in Game 2, but the result was similar. Despite his 32 points, the Thunder beat the Timberwolves 118-103 on Thursday night to take a 2-0 series lead. The Thunder rotated several defenders on Edwards — primarily Lu Dort, who was named to the NBA's All-Defensive team on Thursday — and Alex Caruso, who was All-Defensive first team two years ago and second team last season. Edwards made 12 of 26 field goals and 7 of 10 free throws. 'I thought the guys did a great job tonight,' Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. 'Edwards was much more. ... he was loosened up tonight. I thought a lot of that was the way they were playing. And they (the Thunder guards) really took on the challenge with him. And he really had to earn everything he got. For the most part, nothing came easy for him.' Edwards, who was fined $50,000 for using profanity during his postgame interview after Game 1, didn't bother talking to the media at all after Game 2. It might have been out of frustration. He missed some time with an ankle injury in Game 1, and it appeared to carry over to Game 2. He wasn't his usual explosive self, settling for layups in a few situations when he would normally have dunked. He still got to the basket often, but he never really seemed comfortable. His teammates couldn't get going. The Timberwolves shot 41.4% from the field and made just 11 of 39 3-pointers. 'These are open shots,' Minnesota's Nickeil Alexander-Walker said. 'They're open shots. We've got to make open shots. And I think that we will.' Julius Randle, who scored 28 points in the opener, finished with six on 2-for-11 shooting in Game 2. Alexander-Walker expects that to improve for Game 3. 'I'm not bothered,' Alexander-Walker said. 'I'm not going to bat an eye at it. I know Julius, I know he's going to come in and work. I know that as a competitor, his blood's boiling and he's going to come back next game ready to go.' ___ AP NBA:
Yahoo
23-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Timberwolves vs. Thunder: Game delayed early after Scott Foster injury, with old nemesis Chris Paul in the building
The first foul of Game 2 of the Western Conference finals was Lu Dort on Scott Foster. (Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images) Game 2 of the Western Conference finals saw an early delay after a play ended in a bloody nose for veteran official Scott Foster. The injury occurred when Foster presided over a tip-off between Oklahoma City Thunder guard Lu Dort and Minnesota Timberwolves forward Julius Randle. Randle got the ball, while Dort whiffed and inadvertently struck Foster in the face with his hand. Advertisement His foot also appeared to connect with Foster's midsection. The game was paused for a couple minutes as Foster received medical attention before returning to the game with an absorption device in his nose to stop the bleeding. Officials, including Foster, have taken on-court punishment before — it's the price of overseeing a sport where giants are running and jumping against each other at full-speed for 48 minutes — but where Foster's injury gets curious is who was in the building. The animosity between Foster and veteran point guard Chris Paul is legendary. Paul famously holds a 3-17 record in playoff games officiated by Foster and has openly complained about the man to reporters. The easy joke about Foster's injury Thursday was "Chris Paul is smiling somewhere," but Paul was actually at the Paycom Center, as part of the MVP presentation for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. That's quite a coincidence.
