The Oklahoma City Thunder go into Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Sunday night in San Antonio with a 2-1 lead, but they will do it short-handed and leaning hard on the players who have already shaped the series. Ajay Mitchell will not be available, Jalen Williams remains questionable, and the Thunder may need Lu Dort to have a loud night if they are going to steal another win on the road.
That possibility gives Dortmund's role real weight. He has been all over the series already, locking down opponents on defense and crashing the glass, even as his shooting has lagged behind the rest of his impact. Dort is shooting 35.4% from beyond the arc during the postseason, and in the conference finals he has made only two of his eight three-point attempts. Oklahoma City has won with the bench stealing the spotlight, but against a San Antonio team that grabbed home-court advantage in Game 1 before the Thunder took it back, the margin for error is thinner now.
Sunday's game is the next hinge point. The Thunder are already up 2-1 after their Game 3 win, and they have managed that lead while missing pieces and getting needed production from deeper in the rotation. That has helped cover for the absence of two of their top three ball-handlers entering Game 4, a problem that puts more responsibility on the players still available to create stops, secure rebounds and make enough shots to keep the series moving their way.
The tension is in what Oklahoma City can survive, not just what it can control. Dort does not need to become a primary scorer for the Thunder to win, but they may need a version of him that changes the game with timely shots to go with the defense he has already provided. If he finds it in San Antonio, Oklahoma City can leave with control of the series intact. If he does not, the pressure shifts back onto a roster already asking a lot from its second unit.
