Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein played just 12 minutes in the reigning NBA champion’s Western Conference Finals Game 1 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, spending the majority of the double-overtime contest on the bench.
But in Game 2, Hartenstein saw his role take a dramatic shift.
Hartenstein played 27 minutes in the Thunder’s 122-113 victory, finishing the game with 10 points and 13 rebounds. More importantly, the 7-foot big man served as the primary defender on Victor Wembanyama for the majority of the night, playing an overwhelmingly physical brand of basketball.
After the game, Hartenstein talked about his dramatically different roles from Game 1 to Game 2. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault made the call before Wednesday night’s playoff clash.
“He does a great job of just communicating before what kind of your role’s gonna be,” Hartenstein explained. “So, going into Game 1, I kind of knew what it was going to be. And yesterday, he sat me down again. He kind of apologized, but it was more like, ‘Hey, just be ready. Your number’s gonna be called more, and we’re gonna try to do something different.'”
“Again, Mark’s a great coach. I trust him,” he continued. “If you want to play in a team sport, if you want to play on a team like this, you really have to put your ego aside and do what’s best for the team.”
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The officiating crew allowed Hartenstein to pull, push and grab Wembanyama throughout the game. It’s unclear if that type of officiating will continue when the series heads to San Antonio for Game 3 and Game 4.
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Game 3 will tipoff at 8:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
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