The Thunder went big in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals and evened the series at 1-1.
After watching Victor Wembanyama have the best game of his young career in the series opener, OKC head coach Mark Daigneault made the key rotation decision to give center Isaiah Hartenstein more run after he played just 12 minutes in Game 1.
The 7-footer rose to the occasion, playing stellar defense on Wemby and being a beast on the boards in 27 minutes.
Hartenstein had 13 rebounds, including a game-high eight offensive rebounds, helping the Thunder close to a massive deficit on the boards that killed them in Game 1.
He also found a way to score on Wembanyama in the paint, putting up 10 points while utilizing his push shot floater from around 10 feet out rather than trying to score over the 7-foot-4 shotblocker near the rim.
Wembanyama looked much more human-like with a player of Hartenstein’s size and strength out there to match him.
After putting up 41 points and 24 rebounds in Game 1, the French sensation came back to earth with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
That should earn Hartenstein another heavy workload in Game 3.
After watching him help stabilize the matchup against Wembanyama and swing the rebounding battle back toward OKC, Daigneault has little reason to go back to the smaller rotations that got punished in the opener.
Betting on the NBA?
After a double-double on Wednesday night, don’t be surprised if he repeats it in Game 3 as the series shifts to San Antonio.
The play: Isaiah Hartenstein over 15.5 points + rebounds (-115, BetMGM Sportsbook)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three — MLB, the NFL and the NBA.