The Thunder’s big man combination of Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein didn’t get off to a promising start, writes Joe Mussatto of The Oklahoman. OKC added Hartenstein in free agency in the summer of 2024 after being badly outrebounded by Dallas in the conference semifinals. but because of injuries to both players, they weren’t able to get on the court together until February of that season. When they did, Mussatto describes their fit together as “clunky.”
“The first couple games, we didn’t think it was really going to work out,” Hartenstein said.
At 7’1″, Holmgren had been a center all his life, but he moved to power forward to accommodate Hartenstein’s physical presence inside. Although the team was initially more effective using one big man at a time, they eventually figured out how to work together, leading the Thunder to the NBA title last year and a 6-0 mark in this year’s playoffs following a 64-win season.
Coach Mark Daigneault, who oversaw the partnership, always believed it would be successful.
“We were pretty confident it could work, because the goal is to get your best players on the court, and they’re two of our best players,” Daigneault said. “It’s our job to figure out how to make that work, and we have a team that dances with us on that. And ultimately their heart being in it is important. It doesn’t matter what we’re doing — if they’re not fully invested in it, it’s not gonna work.”
There’s more on the Thunder:
- Jared McCain has been a perfect addition to Oklahoma City’s backcourt since being acquired from Philadelphia at the deadline, Mussatto adds in another Oklahoman story. The second-year guard has posted career playoff scoring highs in the past two games, and his 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting on Thursday helped the Thunder pull away. “I just think there’s certain qualities a player has that resonate with this particular locker room,” Daigneault replied when asked about McCain’s ability to adapt to the team in midseason. “Professionalism is one of them. Commitment to your craft is another one. Competitiveness, the willingness to compete and the willingness to play inside of the team. If you do those things on this team, you earn pretty immediate respect.”
- Ajay Mitchell has scored 18 and 20 points in the first two games of the series while filling in for the injured Jalen Williams, per Mussatto and Jenni Carlson of The Oklahoman. Williams is dealing with a Grade 1 hamstring strain that has sidelined him since Game 2 of the first-round series with Phoenix, and he was ruled out for tonight’s contest.
- Meeting with reporters before Game 3, Lakers coach JJ Redick talked about the challenge of matching up with the Thunder’s depth, relays Joel Lorenzi of The Athletic (Twitter link). “The (Nikola) Topic kid has dealt with some health stuff, and their rookie (Thomas Sorber) is dealing with coming back from his offseason surgery,” Redick said. “Literally the other 13 guys are all top seven or eight rotation players in the NBA on any team. So they can just hit you with bodies. Just the nature of how they built that team.”
Wemby is problematic for the OKC front court. I think Spurs match up quite well. They have enough guard/wing depth to play SGA very tight. I would just send him to the line 40 times in game 1 and absolutely dare the refs to keep up the shenanigans the rest of the series.