Lu Dort of the Oklahoma City Thunder did a splendid job at defending Houston Rockets star guard James Harden in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs. In a recent interview, the incoming second-year man revealed that Chris Paul shared some intel on how to defend Harden.

Dort joined the TSN 690 crew where he talked about his impressive rookie campaign which included a stellar defensive effort on Harden — one of the best offensive players in league history. His defensive stance on Harden essentially catapulted him to the limelight. But in the interview, he revealed that Paul — Harden's former teammate — shared several tactics on how to defend the Beard.

“I spent a lot of time (prepping to guard Harden). … We got to prepare a little earlier and having Chris (Paul) on my team, he’s just such a leader. He knows how the playoffs work and how to spend your time getting ready for it. So I spent a lot of time with Chris, watching film on James, studying his game and I felt like that really helped,” as transcribed by Moke Hamilton of USA Today.

Statistics reveal that though James Harden shot 46.5 percent in the series, he shot less than 50 percent from the field in four of the series’ seven games when Dort was guarding him. In Game 7, Harden shot a horrendous 4-of-15 from the field.

Dort, an Arizona alum, also noted that he's been watching Harden since his Arizona days. So it's pretty safe to say that he's been studying Harden's moves even before he set foot in the NBA.