Thunder's Isaiah Hartenstein comes up big in Game 2 win over Spurs

It’s not up to Hartenstein to determine what a foul is, but the game may have been different had the Thunder big man drawn more whistles for his activity inside. Or for yanking on Stephon Castle's hair.

Isaiah Hartenstein bailed out Chet Holmgren

For whatever reason, the Thunder are uncomfortable putting their own young big man, Chet Holmgren, on Wembanyama defensively. Coach Mark Daigneault preferred to do it in spurts, letting Holmgren match up against backup center Luke Kornet (who was -10 in 11 minutes), either to get hot or avoid giving Wemby more motivation by facing his longtime international rival. Holmgren scored 13 points and gathered four rebounds.

One of Hartenstein‘s biggest physical plays came when he collided with San Antonio‘s rookie guard Dylan Harper fighting for a rebound. Hartenstein took an elbow to the head. Harper headed to the locker room for the remainder of the game. The Spurs, already down point guard De'Aaron Fox, couldn't handle the Thunder's ball pressure in the second half. 

Hartenstein's $28.5M team option may be the Thunder's biggest roster decision of the summer. With maximum extensions kicking in for Holmgren and Jalen Williams, the Thunder will have to make tough financial decisions to keep their team together and out of the punitive, second luxury tax apron. 

Wednesday night, Hartenstein was worth every penny of his $28.5M contract. Now he just has to stay on the court — and stop pulling hair.