'I know you're in hell right now' -- What it's like inside OKC's Lu Dort's impossible 'Dorture Chamber' - ESPN

IN THE SECOND half of Game 7 of the Houston Rockets' first-round playoff series against the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2020, NBA analyst Mark Jackson and his broadcast partner Mark Jones couldn't believe what they were watching.

All night they'd been watching the NBA's leading scorer, James Harden, battle Luguentz Dort, who until then was an unknown Thunder rookie. And Harden was miserable. Everywhere he went, Dort followed him.

With 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, Rockets coach Mike D'Antoni called a play, hoping to get Harden some air.

The plan was to set three screens for the Rockets All-Star to get some separation from the burly, relentless rookie who'd hounded Harden for the entire series.

First it was Danuel House, who set a screen for Harden as he ran cross-court at the elbow. Then, immediately, P.J. Tucker behind House; then, finally, Jeff Green.

With space, the thinking went, Harden could've turned the corner and driven toward the basket for either a layup or a pass to each screener, rolling to the basket.

But Dort powered through all of them. Harden, exasperated, looked on as each opening quickly closed, then settled for yet another long 3-pointer that clanked off the front of the rim.

«They set three screens for him,» Jackson said, empathizing with Harden's plight. «But Dort was able to follow through all three of them and get back into the picture.»

It was that game — and this play — when Dort started to realize just how big of an impact he could make on the game.

«That was my rookie year, so I wasn't really noticing that I'm actually that good of a defender yet,» Dort told ESPN. «So when they sent those three screens at me, I was like, 'God, they trying that much just to get me off his body?'»

They were.