Standing at the right-wing spot, Cason Wallace kicked it out to Lu Dort. Swish. Within the same opening minute, Dort was at the top of the key. Isaiah Hartenstein passed it out to him. Swish. Speaking of get-right, this was much needed for him after an ice-cold start from the outside this season.

Dort finished with 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting, one rebound and one assist. He shot 4-of-6 from 3 and went 3-of-3 on free throws. He also had one steal and one block.

The Oklahoma City Thunder scored a franchise-best 49 points in the first quarter on their way to a 126-109 win over the New Orleans Pelicans.

Everything went OKC’s way to start. That included Dort’s hot start. He scored 12 points in the opening frame and made four triples. The streaky outside shooter helped the Thunder bury the Pelicans early on the scoreboard. This is exactly what he needed to boost his confidence.

While several other Thunder role players have one-upped their career campaign from last year, Dort has needed some time to get going. Missing time with a shoulder strain slowed down any momentum. But it also gave him a chance to slow things down and catch his breath.

You can always count on Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault as a Dort supporter. After all, both have been tied at the hip since he was promoted in 2020. He’s had a firsthand view of his Disney-esque journey from undrafted rookie to an All-Defense member.

“He’s got great confidence. Unwavering. I thought what was positive about that is they started Missi on him. They cross-matched him to start the game, which is another thing we’ll see and he’s seen in the past,” Daigneault said about Dort. “He went out there and shot the ball with confidence. Which I think can also doubt the opponent’s game plan.”

Playing alongside for four seasons now, Holmgren knows the importance of Dort. He provides lockdown defense at the perimeter that makes the rest of his teammates’ jobs easier on that side of the floor. The box-score stats might not pop off, but he’s an important piece to their league-best defense.

“The box-score watchers might see when the ball doesn’t swing his way and doesn’t have as many opportunities to shoot and knock them down and score 17 like he did tonight and think he had a less impactful game. But that’s not true. Lu’s impact is unwritten a lot of nights,” Holmgren said. “It’s things that don’t show up. The ball-pressure, putting teams under duress, getting them up against the shot clock because he’s blowing up actions. That’s huge for us. It doesn’t always show up in numbers, but it shows up in the scoreboard for sure.”

The Thunder hope Dort can go on a heater. Can never have enough outside shooting. Especially in this offense, where it boils down to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander playing Superman. It’d be a plus to what he brings on the other end of the floor, where he recently earned his first All-Defense Team honor.

“That’s how I made my name in this league and that’s how I made my name on this team as well. It’s not always the box score. I can impact the game in a lot of ways that people won’t really see,” Dort said. “As long as my team sees it, it’s all good. Every time I go out there, I try my best and compete at the highest level.”