Shai Gilgeous-Alexander dribbled the ball across midcourt and immediately got a screen from Alex Caruso, springing him and giving him a chance to drive to the basket. That’s an opportunity the Thunder superstar is never going to turn down.
But as SGA neared the paint early in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Pacers converged, stopping his progress, then walling him off from the basket.
Isaiah Hartenstein saw what was happening — felt it, too, since his defender had peeled away to help contain SGA — so the Thunder big man made a little cut along the baseline that caught Gilgeous-Alexander’s eye. He threw a behind-the-back bounce pass, giving Hartenstein a clear look at the basket and a great opportunity to shoot one of his little push shots.
But Hartenstein realized there was an even better opportunity when he saw Caruso running unguarded toward the corner.
Pass.
Shot.
Bang.
It was one of four assists Hartenstein had in only 22 minutes Sunday night. Even though he scored just three points, his assists and his defense helped him have the Thunder’s second-biggest plus-minus in the game. The Thunder outscored the Pacers by 17 points when Hartenstein was on the floor.
Sudden thought for Thunder coach Mark Daigneault: Play Hartenstein more.
Playing time hasn’t been much of an issue for Hartenstein, who started every game in the first three rounds of the playoffs plus 53 of the 57 games he played during the regular season. But in the first two games of the NBA Finals, Daigneault has gone with a smaller lineup to start games, pulling Hartenstein in favor of Cason Wallace.
Nothing against Wallace. He’s a superb young player. Great perimeter defender. Rapidly improving offensive threat.
But as the NBA Finals move to Indiana — Game 3 is 7:30 p.m. Wednesday — the Thunder has played some of its best ball against the Pacers with Hartenstein on the court. With fellow big Chet Holmgren. Without him. Doesn’t matter.
“He screens. He crashes. Runs. Communicates,” Daigneault said of Hartenstein. “He does all the invisible things that help your team.
“I think that’s why teams play well when he’s on the court, including ours.”
Offensively, Hartenstein is a ball mover. He will set screens high on the floor, often beyond the arc, and then hang around in that area of the court. Oftentimes, the ball swings back to him and he distributes it to a teammate who is flaring or cutting or driving.
Hartenstein doesn’t have to score to have a significant impact on the Thunder offense.
Case in point: Sunday night.
Just before Hartenstein checked in for the first time, the offense hit a rough patch. Three turnovers in six possessions. Jalen Williams drove into a crowd and had the ball poked away. Holmgren lost control of the ball on a move down the lane. SGA dribbled into a crowd in transition and lost the ball.
With Hartenstein on the court, the Thunder didn’t have another turnover for the remainder of the quarter.
Plus, he had that assist on the Caruso 3, got to the free-throw line and threw a nifty pocket pass from the top of the key to a cutting Isaiah Joe.
On the flip side, Hartenstein helped force the Pacers outside the paint for most of their shots. They didn’t score a basket from inside the arc while he was on the court in the first quarter. Now, he was joined in the paint patrol by Chet Holmgren, who played nearly four minutes with Hartenstein in the frame. But they were part of a unit that forced the Pacers into five empty possessions to end the quarter.
“I think we’re versatile enough, even if they have a small lineup, bigger lineup, I think we can play both ways,” Hartenstein said of him and Holmgren. “I think that gives Mark a lot of different options. I think we can go super big, we can go small, we can go one big on the court.”
Daigneault said Sunday night, “They were both really good in both situations. I thought both of them gave us huge lifts on both ends of the floor.”
Hartenstein was part of the lineup at the beginning of the second quarter that helped get the Thunder started on a 19-2 run. Then early in the third quarter when Myles Turner scored the Pacers’ first seven points of the frame, Hartenstein came in and cooled off the heater; Turner scored just two more points in the quarter.
Remember, too, that Hartenstein is producing off the bench. Lots of Thunders do that, of course, but when you go from starter to reserve, it isn’t always easy. And when it happens in the NBA Finals, it can be particularly difficult.
But Hartenstein hasn’t stewed or sulked. Not outwardly anyway.
“He’s an incredible teammate that’s integrated so seamlessly into the team,” Daigneault said, referencing Hartenstein’s offseason signing out of free agency. “He’s an unbelievable competitor that lines up and plays every single night. He gives himself to the game.”
And that has helped give the Thunder a chance to take complete control of this series.
Jenni Carlson: Jenni can be reached at jcarlson@oklahoman.com. Like her at facebook.com/JenniCarlsonOK, follow her at @jennicarlsonok.bsky.social and twitter.com/jennicarlson_ok, and support her work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.
