Lu Dort's Impact Goes Beyond Scoreboard for OKC Thunder

There are plenty of ways to impact a basketball game.

Whether it's similar to what star OKC Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander does, scoring in chunks consistently every single game. Or center Isaiah Hartenstein, who grabbed 15 rebounds in their most recent matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Or, you can do what Thunder guard Lu Dort did, scoring only three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 34 minutes of action. It might seem like he didn't do anything, but Dort finished with the highest plus-minus of the night, grabbed four fouls and took on the responsibility of defending one of Memphis's best players.

That final plus-minus number was plus-35, the highest on the team by a significant margin. That means regardless of where he was on the court or what he was doing, his presence within the other four players on the court for the Thunder impacted winning.

His defense was the most important part of what he brought to the table against the Grizzlies. He took on the task of locking down Desmond Bane, who scored 15 points on 5-for-14 shooting and a single turnover. The physicality of both players made for an excellent defensive showing, one of which, technically, Bane walked away as a victor.

This is important because Dort's main job isn't to score the ball. It is an expectation of him that he will shoot when he's open and attempt to create his own shot, but Dort's frame for his position and ability to guard the league's best players pushes that to the top of the priority list.

Bane is averaging 18.5 points per game this season on 48.7% shooting. He shot 35.7% last game on 14 shot attempts, which is an unusually inefficient outing for him. It can't all be attributed to Bane as the overall team defense of Oklahoma City is hard to score on, but Dort did everything in his power to make life hard for Bane.

It's nice that the Thunder have a reliable defensive option that can also score. He did have an off offensive night but was still, arguably, one of the best players on the court. That will continue to be the case for OKC as the regular season winds down and the playoffs commence.

The plus-35 Dort posted against the Grizzlies is impressive and makes him as important as any player on the team. OKC's depth is perfectly built around its star in Gilgeous-Alexander, and Dort is another perfect example of that.