These two ballers from Montreal North will be in the NBA Finals

Local players say seeing two Montrealers in the NBA Finals proves big dreams can start on hometown courts.

Luguentz Dort and Bennedict Mathurin last faced off in an OKC-Indiana game on Boxing Day last year.

For Quebec basketball fans, the NBA final, which begins Thursday evening in Oklahoma, is a wonderful gift.

“It’s huge for us, but also for those who support us,” Dort said during an NBA video conference.

“I think Montreal basketball fans’ favourite teams are us and the Pacers. It’s going to be really fun (for the public) to see us play in the finals.”

Dort is 26, while Mathurin will turn 23 on June 19.

Both athletes come from the same neighbourhood in Montreal and are very close to each other.

“Bennedict is like a brother to me,” said Dort. “We come from the same place. We both grew up in Montreal North. We spend a lot of time together between seasons. I’m happy with where he is in his career.”

Both played for the Parc-Extension Knights and then Brookwood Elite in the AAU.

They have made appearances at each other’s basketball camps.

Among their community involvement, Dort and Mathurin have been involved in campaigns with the Quebec Council on Tobacco and Health and the Quebec Student Sports Network on the harms of vaping.

The final is slated to begin on Thursday (8:30 p.m., RDS2, TSN4, ABC).

This season, Oklahoma City led the league with an average of 10.3 steals per game.

“Defence has been a very important factor in our success since the beginning of the season,” said Dort. “We take a lot of pride in that.”

• IN READ: Montreal’s Lu Dort is defensive backbone of top-ranked Oklahoma City Thunder

This season, Dort was named to the NBA All-Defensive First Team for the first time in his career.

“He’s the type of player every team needs to win,” said Andrew Hertzog, who led Vanier College to six provincial titles and one national title in 32 years at the helm of the Cheetahs.

“He has an exceptional, competitive, and tough side, and it’s contagious. His commitment to putting in the extra effort in every game is so important.”

He also set a career-high for three-point shooting percentage, at 41.2 per cent.

“He’s really found a balance in terms of being effective on offence (given his role on defence),” said Joey McKitterick, who coached Dort as a teenager alongside Nelson Ossé with the Brookwood Elite.

“He chooses better when to shoot, especially now that he’s surrounded by several dynamic players on offence. He’s become much more cerebral on defence, smarter and more aware of everything. For example, he might try to draw an offensive foul at a crucial moment for his team to give them momentum.”

• WATCH: NBA star Lu Dort back in Montreal North to unveil new-look park

The offence is led by fellow Canadian Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the NBA’s Most Valuable Player this season.

The Ontario native led the NBA with 32.7 points per game this season, setting a personal best.

“He’s so elusive (physically),” McKitterick said. “He’s never going to be thrown off balance. He makes the defence uncomfortable with his variety of moves and little pauses.”

“He can score in so many ways,” Hertzog added. “He’s very fast, and he can beat just about anyone off the dribble. He takes advantage of angles, space and changes of speed.”

Dort and SGA: a shared journey with OKC from the start

Gilgeous-Alexander arrived after a trade with the Clippers in the summer of 2019.

His journey with OKC has been alongside Dort from the start (except for a dozen G League games for Dort).

Dort was not selected in the 2019 draft.

Many expected him to be drafted at the end of the first round, but the long evening at the Barclays Center, where he was, ended without him hearing his name called.

Dort nevertheless accepted a two-way contract and joined the Thunder’s affiliate, the Blue.

The Quebec native showed his true colours with 35 points in his first game, before making his NBA debut on Dec. 6.

The strong bond between Gilgeous-Alexander and Dort was evident on TV on May 21, when it was announced that the Ontario native had been voted the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Responding to a question about who to highlight in his career, the Hamilton athlete gave a warm testimonial about Dort, sitting to his left. The camaraderie and gratitude were palpable.

“I think the camaraderie with SGA is very important,” McKitterick said. “They went through a rebuild. Their humility allowed them to connect, but more than that, it set the tone for the rest of the team. That’s what makes the Thunder so enjoyable to watch: the guys play for each other.”

After two tough seasons (22 and 24 wins), the 2022 draft brought in Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and Jaylin Williams.

Last summer, the club traded for Alex Caruso shortly before signing Isaiah Hartenstein as a free agent.

“Hartenstein excels at grabbing rebounds in traffic, in addition to his passing and screening abilities,” McKitterick said. “He does a lot of things that don’t show up in the statistics.”

Kenrich Williams and Isaiah Joe were acquired in 2020, then Aaron Wiggins was selected 55th in 2021.

Cason Wallace was drafted 10th in 2023.

Thunder general manager Sam Presti was named the NBA’s Executive of the Year this year.

“There was a vision when I arrived with the Thunder,” Dort said. “The main thing was to grow as a team. We now meet several criteria, and for that, hats off to the organization, the coaches and the players.”

McKitterick highlighted the value of last year’s experience when OKC, ranked first in the west, was defeated in the second round by Dallas.

“They learned a lot about what the playoffs are really like and how to adjust. It helped them get past Denver (in the second round, in seven games).”

A look at the Pacers and their coaches

In addition to Mathurin (the sixth pick in 2022), Indiana also counts on Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner and Ontario’s Andrew Nembhard, among others.

“(Siakam) is excellent and he’s already been to a final (with the champion Toronto Raptors in 2019),” said Dort. “A player like him is going to make a lot of tough shots. Anything we can do to make it harder for him, we’re going to do.”

This season, Nembhard set personal bests with 10.0 points and 5.0 assists per game.

“I was already playing against him when we were only 13 or 14 years old,” Dort said of his teammate on the Canadian team (SGA completes the trio). “It’s great to see how he’s developed.”

Both head coaches hail from the northeastern United States.

Rick Carlisle of the Pacers is from upstate New York, while Mark Daigneault of the Thunder is from Leominster, Massachusetts.

Carlisle ranks 11th in league history with 993 wins.

Daigneault was the NBA Coach of the Year in 2023-24.

He has Quebec roots: his great-grandfather was Ulric Daigneault, originally from Montreal.

Mark Daigneault’s father is named Rick, in honour of Ulric.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 3, 2025.