The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, 109-99, to go two games above the Lakers in the Western Conference standings. While November standings might not hold as much water, the Thunder have separated themselves from the other contenders through their consistent play. Moreover, they’ve addressed the weaknesses they’ve had from last season, namely size and strength in the front-court. After Chet Holmgren went down with a hip fracture, Isaiah Hartenstein returned from injury himself to drop 13 points and 14 rebounds in the Thunder win.
After the win, Hartenstein celebrated his impactful performance with a bark, while surrounded by teammates, from this clip shared by the Thunder Film Room on X, formerly Twitter.
We got the iHart bark
pic.twitter.com/n8YIQPbYr1
— Thunder Film Room (@ThunderFilmRoom) November 21, 2024
Thunder def. Blazers, 109-99
The absence of Chet Holmgren caused the Thunder to stumble a little bit, but the star power of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored a career-high 45 points against the Clippers, guided them to a 12-4 record, most recently beating the Blazers, while Isaiah Hartenstein’s returns filled their needs for rebounding and interior defense.
His return is doubly important because the Thunder are also out Jaylin Williams, dealing with a hamstring injury.
Scoring 13 points while grabbing 14 rebounds is enough production for a team lacking Holmgren’s two-way impact, which makes Hartenstein such a valuable role player for OKC.
He can help keep the team’s offense and defense humming, thanks to his shot-blocking and rebounding.
Likewise, he’s strong enough to take contact in the low block, which in theory would allow Holmgren to hover around the perimeter shooting bombs.
Still, with Isaiah Hartenstein back from injury, the Thunder are also dealing with a groin injury to Alex Caruso, their defensive ace. He left the game in the second half and did not return.
Though the Thunder should continue to stack wins without him, they will need his tenacity, basketball IQ, and nose on defense deep in the postseason.
After all, their lack of playoff experience showed in their playoff flameout against the Mavericks last season.
Caruso’s championship pedigree would help them tremendously if they face the Warriors, for example, or the Lakers, somewhere in the postseason.
Against the Blazers, SGA shot only 7-19, but he made all 14 of his shots at the charity stripe.
Outlook
After the win, they’ll need to take advantage of their four days off before their West Coast road trip that would pit them against other top teams in the conference, beginning with the Sacramento Kings for the NBA Cup and ending with the Lakers.
Then, they’ll visit the Rockets before heading home.
At this point of the season, Thunder may not have many things to worry about–besides injuries–but they’ll have to see whether they’ve figured enough things to go deeper in the playoffs.
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