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Justin Martinez: Final: Thunder 132, Wizards 111 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 40 points and 7 assists; Isaiah Hartenstein: 9 points, 20 rebounds and 10 assists; Chet Holmgren: 18 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. OKC (56-15) is on a league-leading winning streak of 11 games.
Justin Martinez: Here’s OKC’s injury report for its road game against Brooklyn tonight: Chet Holmgren is questionable. Jalen Williams, Isaiah Hartenstein and Lu Dort are out.
Justin Martinez: Jared McCain on if he has played alongside a big man who can make screening a highlight play like Isaiah Hartenstein: “It’s crazy. When I was in Philly, Joel would do that with Tyrese and I was like ‘Dang, that’s really cool right there.’ So being able to be a part of it is really fun. Playing with Hart, J-Will and Chet, they’re all elite bigs. I’m excited to play with them.”
Nearly 10 years before teaming up for the Lakers, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton were just teenaged prospects with big dreams. They first met at a Basketball without Borders camp in 2016. The roster that year also included future NBA champions Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Isaiah Hartenstein. Hachimura recalled Ayton dominating everyone. Then the 7-foot center from the Bahamas inexplicably disappeared. “That’s what I remember,” Hachimura said with a smile remembering his first impression of his future Lakers teammate. “I was like, ‘Where’s this guy going?’”
Justin Martinez: Here's OKC's injury report for its home game against Minnesota tomorrow: Isaiah Hartenstein (left calf contusion) is questionable after missing the last three games. Jalen Williams (right hamstring strain) remains out.
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Justin Martinez: Here's the injury report for OKC's home game against Boston tomorrow: Chet Holmgren is back after missing the last two games due to the flu. Jalen Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein remain out.
Isaiah Hartenstein: On draft night actually, so I was supposed to go, I think it was like 10 to like 25 and then on draft night, I got red-flagged for something I didn't have, an injury. They were like, "Oh, yeah, you're good after all the MRIs and stuff." And then my agent comes to me like on draft night and he's like, "Yo, what's wrong with your knee?!” I was like, "Huh?" I was like, "No, my knee's straight." And they're like, "Yeah, you just got red-flagged for your knee." And we had a pretty good draft that year. I don't remember who else was in that draft, but it was a good draft. So, I fell down to the 43rd pick, got drafted by the Rockets, and they kind of gave me an option. They were like, "You can go overseas. We don't know when you're gonna come back. Or you play one year in the G League and we're gonna give you a contract right away. So I was like, ‘Yeah, I’m going to the G.’
Isaiah Hartenstein on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: I told him ‘my fault, I’ll get you the assist next time.’ And he was just like I don't care. Just make the best play. Make the right play. Like I just want to win. I think just even hearing that early on especially from your superstar. I think that's just impressive how he kind of put his ego aside and he really just wants to win. Alex Caruso: I've talked about this before with you on probably multiple occasions like he's just very selfless for a guy that is on every commercial, is the face of this team, the NBA, the country. It's just impressive. It's impressive.
Isaiah Hartenstein: The G League is such a crazy experience especially coming from… So I was playing in the Euroleague I was playing overseas and how like structured… Alex Caruso: I was about to say the most structure basketball like… Hartenstein: Everyone listens, you're not talking back to the coach, like the coach says something you're just like ‘okay’. This was the exact opposite, especially RGV. Caruso: Yeah, there's some wild teams in RGV. Hartenstein: Because we always took like the best players that were the head cases like to get the swings. Caruso: The guys that like didn't make it in the league or like trying to break in the league had like an attitude, behavioral issues… Hartenstein: I was like, ‘I don't know if I want to do this no more.’ Like players and coaches were fist fighting in practice and I'm just standing there. Caruso: I won't say any names for stories, but if you played the G League, you know exactly who these people are.
Justin Martinez: Here's OKC's injury report for its home game against Golden State tomorrow: Isaiah Hartenstein and Alex Caruso are out after getting banged up against New York. Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell also remain out.
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To be clear, McCain never wanted to leave the Sixers. He was "completely blindsided" by the trade, he said. He is "really grateful," though, to have landed with Oklahoma City for a number of reasons. McCain loves the way that the Thunder play. "This offense is amazing," he said, praising the team's collective chemistry and unselfishness. He loves playing off Isaiah Hartenstein, the big man Gilgeous-Alexander described as a "dream" to play with after just two regular-season games last season. "It's being able to find where I want the ball but also find my man after he passes the ball, when he drops the passes," McCain said. "Or being able to just pitch it and then come off. Just that little bit of space is all a shooter needs to get something off. And if I got a little bit of an advantage, I know I can either get to the bump mid or get to a 3."
In the latest injury blow in a season full of them for the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder, Alex Caruso (left hip contusion) and Isaiah Hartenstein (left calf tightness) were ruled out during the team's 103-100 victory over the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night. "They were just ruled out for the rest of the game," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "We'll evaluate them tomorrow, but when they went out, they weren't coming back." Both players were ruled out midway through the fourth quarter of a Thunder win that extended their lead over the San Antonio Spurs for the top seed in the Western Conference to 3.5 games.
Brandon Rahbar: Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell and Branden Carlson remain out tonight vs the Knicks. Nikola Topic is out due to playing in an OKC Blue game right now. SGA and Isaiah Hartenstein return after sitting out the first night of a back to back.
