Crowning moment comes for rookie Dort

With the NBA trade deadline a week away, an overachieving Thunder squad has found an internal upgrade in Luguentz Dort.

Playing on a two-way contract, Dort tallied a career-high 23 points Wednesday night in Sacramento as the Thunder trounced the Kings 120-100.

Dort, a muscled-up 6-foot-3 guard, is a defense-first option in coach Billy Donovan's rotation. Dort averaged just 4.9 points in his first 13 NBA games. He was shooting 39 percent from the floor and 24 percent from 3-point range entering the night.

But Wednesday, Dort was 8- of- 12 from the floor. He splashed five 3-pointers in six attempts.

“I actually told Dort toward the end of the game, Kobe (Bryant) probably would've been proud of him because he had 23 points and no assists,” Chris Paul joked with reporters after the win. “Kobe was all about being aggressive and staying aggressive.”

Dort's previous career high was 10 points. The rookie from Arizona State only had four games of 23 or more points as a Sun Devil. Those came against Nevada, Utah State, McNeese State and Cal State Fullerton — hardly the Sacramento Kings.

Dort became the fourth rookie in OKC history to make at least five 3- pointers in a game. Given the small sample size, Dort's 3-point percentage climbed 10 points in a twohour span — from 24 percent to 34 percent.

Dort is 9-of-14 (64 percent) from three in his last four games.

“As long as he's taking the right shots … he's a good shooter,” Donovan told reporters. “I think the biggest thing for young players is, `When do I shoot, when do I pass, when do I drive?' And I think these are things that Lu is learning. I thought he made really good decisions tonight.”

All five of Dort's 3-pointers were set up by teammates. The Thunder matched its season high with 32 assists.

“We moved the ball, we shared it, we had the floor spaced really well,” Donovan told reporters.

Paul dished 10 assists. Dennis Schroder had nine assists to complement his team- high 24 points. Shai GilgeousAlexander filled the stat sheet with 17 points, seven assists and seven rebounds.