Over the last few games, Tyrese Haliburton has been subjected to what Oklahoma City Thunder fans call the “Dorture Chamber.”
Lu Dort has been all over Haliburton during the Finals, and that is having a profound effect.
According to Evan Sidery, Dort has been locking down Haliburton and hurting his output in tremendous ways.
“Tyrese Haliburton is shooting 20% and created only four assists when guarded by Lu Dort in the NBA Finals. Dort’s aggressive defense has completely taken Haliburton out of rhythm,” Sidery posted on X.
Tyrese Haliburton is shooting 20% and created only four assists when guarded by Lu Dort in the NBA Finals.
Dort’s aggressive defense has completely taken Haliburton out of rhythm. pic.twitter.com/jOK6ounVFD
— Evan Sidery (@esidery) June 9, 2025
All season long, people have commented on just how suffocating the Thunder’s defense is, and Dort has been a major part of that.
For 2024-25, he averaged 10.1 points and 4.1 rebounds, but those numbers don’t tell the whole story.
Dort is smart, fast, physically intimidating, and aggressive.
The fact that he has been given the task of guarding Haliburton says a lot about how much the Thunder trust him.
Haliburton is obviously one of the most talented and dangerous shooters in the league, and the Thunder have to limit him if they want any hope of winning the Finals.
And although he was able to put up that miraculous shot at the end of Game 1, Haliburton hasn’t been as productive as he’d like.
That is mostly due to Dort staying on top of him nonstop.
The series is currently tied 1-1 as it heads to Indiana, so the Thunder know things could get even tougher in Game 3.
They will need Dort to continue to hound Haliburton as much as possible and keep him on his heels.
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