Thunder guard Lu Dort's lock-down defense and huge offensive sequence Saturday has New Orleans on the brink of elimination.

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Lu Dort was the last Thunder down the court, which is a rarity. The Thunder defensive doberman gives great effort all the time, whether guarding the other team’s best player or fighting around screens or getting down court after a defensive stop. 

But with under four minutes remaining in the second quarter Saturday afternoon, Dort trailed the rest of his teammates to the offensive end. 

Call it a set-up. 

Dort took a pass in stride at the top of the key and stepped into a shot from behind the arc.

Splash. 

The next time down the court, Dort got the ball again behind the arc, this time in the right corner and let fly with another shot.

Splash again.

In just over a minute, Dort and the Thunder turned a one-point lead into a double-digit lead — and even watching on TV,  you could see the energy drain out of the Pelicans. Their spirit was broken. Their hope was gone.

On a day the Thunder walloped the Pelicans 106-85, on Saturday in New Orleans, the bigger score was where this series stands.

Thunder 3, Pelicans 0.

In the history of best-of-seven series in the NBA, no team has won a series after trailing 3-0. A total of 151 teams have built such a lead, and every single one of them has won the series. The way the Pelicans looked and played much of Game 3, it’s impossible to think this series will break that streak.

The Pels are cooked.

No player has done more to roast these birds than Dort. His defense against Brandon Ingram has been stellar, but Saturday, Dort didn’t just put Ingram in the Dorture Chamber. (I can’t take credit for this, but it’s too good not to use!) Dort went 4-of-8 from behind the arc, scoring 12 points and throwing dagger after dagger at the Pelicans.

A lock-down defender of Dort’s magnitude isn’t often a knock-down shooter, too, but that’s what Dort has become. He’s turned himself into a player who’s difficult to handle on both ends of the court.

“It’s been amazing,” Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said of Dort’s evolution. “He’s another guy who works super hard. Not surprised by that at all. 

“He’s super confident because of it.”

Dort has been a top-notch defender since the moment he entered the league. It’s how he earned a shot in Oklahoma City as an undrafted free agent. How he turned a G League contract into a full-fledged roster spot. Even then, he was locking down stars in the league; remember, he made life miserable for James Harden in that first-round playoff series in the bubble. 

(And here’s hoping that what Dort is doing game after game in front of a national TV audience in this playoff series gets him the all-defensive-team accolades he deserves.)

Dort, though, has changed his offensive game since his rookie year. 

He shot only 39.4% from the floor that first season, and from behind the arc, he was even worse, a tepid 29.7%. There were flashes of promise. Twenty-three points against the Kings before the COVID shutdown. Four threes against the Grizzlies when the season resumed in the bubble. And of course, there was that huge Game 7 against the Rockets when Dort scored 30 points, hit six 3-pointers and nearly willed the Thunder to victory.

But four years later, Dort has turned himself into a consistent offensive threat, averaging 10.9 points and shooting 39.4% from behind the arc.

How did he get himself here?

“He’s always been aggressive,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault told me the other day, referencing Dort’s scoring average (16.1 points) in his lone season at Arizona State. 

“What he’s had to do here is trim the fat and become more efficient, and that’s what he’s done. Decision making in the lane with his finishing. Decision making on his threes, which ones he’s taking, which ones he’s laying off of. 

“He’s benefited by doing less.”

Dort is averaging 8.3 shots, second lowest in a season during his NBA career.

Even though Daigneault believes Dort has become a better shooter, recognition of when to take a shot and when to pass one up has been more important.

“I think the selection and really the ones he’s laying off of, the one’s he’s not taking have contributed most to the efficiency,” Daigneault said. 

“Just like with finishing. The ones he’s not trying to finish, the ones he’s laying off, that’s really upticked his efficiency, and it upticks the team’s efficiency because he’s more efficient on the shots he takes. But when he lays off a three, we can try to generate a better one. When he lays off a tough layup, we can try to generate a better one.”

Then again, there are times when Dort has a shot that is best — and he’s not afraid to take them.

“I’m taking better shots now. I’m taking my time reading defenses more,” Dort said the other day after practice. “At the same time, I’ve been in the gym working on my shot. 

“I watched a lot of film. I kind of see how teams have been guarding me for the past couple years. So I just thought it was a part of the game that I had to get better on, which I did.”

The Pelicans are well aware.

Dort hasn’t gone crazy offensively like he did in that Game 7 against the Rockets, but he’s averaging 11.0 points and shooting 45.5% from behind the arc in this series. Meanwhile, he’s held Ingram to 18.0 points and 41.5% shooting.

What Dort is doing on both ends has been demoralizing to the Pelicans.

“He just plugs away,” SGA said, “and that’s what makes him him on both ends of the floor. He’s realistic with himself. He tries, gives energy and effort, and because of it, we’ve seen growth from him.

“Hats off to Lu.”

Daigneault said, “As good as he was with the shooting, what he’s done defensively in the series has been outstanding. We need more of it obviously in the next game.”

The Thunder might want him to put the Pels back in the Dorture Chamber, but it looks like they’ve already taken up permanent residency there.