Lu Dort, Alex Caruso’s Defense Paramount in OKC Thunder’s Second-Ever NBA Finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder is set to face off against the Indiana Pacers in the 2025 NBA Finals, it was determined on Saturday night.

Behind Eastern Conference Finals MVP Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers throttled the New York Knicks in a close-out victory in Game 6, exposing an unprepared defense through consistent ball pressure, subsequent turnovers and a surplus of points in return on the offensive end. Now with the Thunder’s opponent established, Oklahoma City will look to capitalize in its second-ever NBA Finals appearance.

Its previous two series coming against Nikola Jokic's Denver Nuggets and Anthony Edwards' Minnesota Timberwolves, the Thunder defense had to be on high alert and much prepared. With the Nuggets series going the distance before Oklahoma City trampled on Minnesota in just five games, one thing had to be constant—the team's defensive prowess.

With a First-Team All NBA Defense bid this season, Lu Dort was relied on a lot when guarding Jamal Murray and Anthony Edwards in their respective series, while Alex Caruso was consistently a pest when matched up against Jokic or Julius Randle as well. Dort is the anchor, Caruso is the playmaker and versatile defender as Oklahoma City depends on these two heavily throughout its defensive scheme.

Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Isaiah Hartenstein, Chet Holmgren, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and many more, this team is built of some of the NBA's best defenders—Sam Presti had a defensive vision when assembling this team, and he delivered.

It's paid off now entering the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011-12, but Dort and Caruso will certainly have to be their typical one-two defensive punch against the likes of the Pacers.

With Siakam, a versatile, strong and crafty forward and Haliburton, a quick-thinking and dependable playmaker, these two averaged a combined 45.8 points per game in their series against New York, answering against the Knicks' defense and with efficiency.

Now replicating that against the NBA's best defense in the league on paper will be a separate challenge—but one thing is for sure, Dort and Caruso must maintain their defensive pulse against a talented Pacers team.