Thunder coach Billy Donovan pleased with Hamidou Diallo's reliability

Oklahoma City's Hamidou Diallo, left, goes past Portland's CJ McCollum during Wednesday night's game at Chesapeake Energy Arena. Diallo has shown improvement over last season. [Bryan Terry/The Oklahoman]Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo swatted at the ball behind him, testing his reach in case there was an opportunity for a steal. But he didn’t forfeit his position.

That became important a second later when a pass flew into the hands of Portland guard CJ McCollum, Diallo’s defensive assignment.

Diallo anticipated the pass and closed out on McCollum. The sharp-shooter drove the lane, but Diallo shuffled in lockstep in front of him. McCollum heaved up a midrange jumper as the shot clock expired, but…