How a self-indulgent guilt trip turned Isaiah Hartenstein into OKC's Wembanyama stopper

Grabbing the offensive rebound, Hartenstein was rewarded for keeping the important possession alive. Catching the ball at the baseline, the 28-year-old flicked up the floater over Wembanyama's reach as it rattled in. The Thunder bet on him to make an impact on this series and he backed up their vote of confidence.

The Oklahoma City Thunder saved their season with a 122-113 Game 2 win over the San Antonio Spurs . They tied this year's epic Western Conference Finals at 1-1. Hartenstein finished with 10 points on 4-of-8 shooting, 13 rebounds and three assists.

He shot 2-of-4 on free throws. After Game 1's gutpunch, how the Thunder handled Hartenstein was the million-dollar question everybody waited for. Would they stick with the starter after playing just 12 minutes or pivot to single-big lineups?

Considering Victor Wembanyama's legendary 41-24 double-double game, most fans wanted to see the latter. But nope. The Thunder stuck to their guns.