The Grizzlies’ dominant Play-In victory over the Mavericks rewarded them with a first-round series against the league’s best team. Memphis will face off against the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder today in Game 1. The matchup will be a brawl between the two exciting young teams, who match up surprisingly well. Nonetheless, Ja Morant and the Grizzlies will have their work cut out for them. Former NBA player Udonis Haslem identified the biggest challenge the eighth-seeded Grizzlies will face against the Thunder.
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Memphis has the luxury of having one of the league’s best point guards, Ja Morant, at the helm. The 6-foot-2 guard’s tremendous explosiveness is a matchup nightmare for most of the league. Oklahoma City, on the other hand, has someone with the perfect skill set to slow down the two-time All-Star.
No team came close to defending at the level at which the Thunder were able to. They were the best defensive team by a large margin. The Magic were second and were still nearly 3 points behind the Thunder. They do most of their damage by committee, but are home to one of the league’s best perimeter defenders.
On ESPN’s NBA Countdown, three-time NBA champion Udonis Haslem spoke ahead of the highly anticipated matchup between the first and eighth seeds in the West. He highlighted Thunder guard Lu Dort as one of the biggest challenges for Morant and the Grizzlies.
“Lu Dort is compact,” Haslem said. “He gets over screens, he does not die on the pick and roll. Over the course of the game, he will just continue to wear on [Morant] and make nothing easy.”
Haslem firmly believes that Morant won’t be able to perform at the level he usually does. Dort thrives in making his opponents uncomfortable due to his level of physicality and tenacity.
The Grizzlies, under interim head coach Tuomas Iisalo, run a lot of pick-and-roll action. The two main figures involved in the action are Morant and rookie big man Zach Edey. However, Dort’s ability to navigate screens could disrupt Memphis’ entire offensive possessions throughout the seven-game series.
Plenty of attention toward the Thunder is given to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and rightfully so. The Canadian superstar is a frontrunner for the MVP award and the best player on the team. But Dort’s defensive performance this season has pushed him into conversations for the Defensive Player of the Year.
The spotlight is now on the Thunder as people are intrigued to see whether they live up to their regular-season hype. The basketball world, including the casual fan, will be able to see just how great of a defensive player Lu Dort is.
