Isaiah Hartenstein alters course of Thunder-Spurs series with his Wemby defense
On a night the Thunder had to beat the Spurs, it did so for lots of reasons. None, however, was bigger than Isaiah Hartensteins's defense on Wemby.
The day before the Thunder’s must-win game against the Spurs, Mark Daigneault pulled Isaiah Hartenstein aside. The Thunder coach wanted his big man to know that even though he didn’t start the second half of the opener of the Western Conference finals, he was going to start the second game of the series. Even though he played only a dozen minutes, he was going to not only play more but also start the game guarding Victor Wembanyama.
“I didn’t feel great about you playing 12 minutes,” Daigneault confessed. Hartenstein didn’t blink. “I’ll do whatever the team needs me to do,” he said.
On Wednesday, Hartenstein turned the series. Thunder 122, Spurs 113 . REPORT CARD: Alex Caruso again does it all as Thunder evens Western Conference finals with Spurs On a night the Thunder had to win — if it falls behind 2-0, who sees it beating the Spurs four of the next five games?
— Oklahoma City won for lots of reasons. An offense that was way more aggressive than it had been in Game 1. An MVP who played more like he has so many nights over these past few seasons.
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