During the Oklahoma City Thunder’s current eight-game winning streak, Isaiah Hartenstein has played in just half of the games.
However, heading into a Tuesday road matchup against the Orlando Magic, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Hartenstein is a big key to unlocking his team’s full offensive potential.
That was evident in Oklahoma City’s Sunday win over the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves. Hartenstein returned from missing three games with a left calf injury and was held scoreless.
However, he produced 12 rebounds and three assists and — perhaps most important — consistently created looks for his teammates with his screen-setting. His work helped free Jared McCain for 15 points on five made 3-pointers.
Hartenstein’s value was also plenty evident in the first meeting with the Magic, on Feb. 3. The 7-footer logged his first career triple-double — 12 points, 10 rebounds, 10 assists — in Oklahoma City’s 128-92 win.
“I think a lot of it is his experience with all these different teams and players he’s played with,” Daigneault said. “He’s really turned screen-setting into an art, and the thing that’s great about him is he has great awareness of who he’s setting a screen for.
“So how we played with (James) Harden and how he plays with Chris Paul and how he plays with Shai (Gilgeous-Alexander) and (Jalen) Brunson is all different. (Donte) DiVincenzo actually was the guy he really got that going with in New York, and now he’s carried that over here with Isaiah (Joe) and McCain.
“His intellect is totally underrated on both ends of the floor. He’s got great, great IQ.”
The Magic are entering the second game of a back-to-back set, having seen their seven-game winning streak end with a 124-112 loss at Atlanta on Monday. The Hawks won their 10th consecutive game.
Orlando goes from taking on the team with the best defensive rating in the league since the All-Star break to the team with the top defensive rating in the league for the season. But the Magic’s offense has made strides since the break.
After entering the break with a 113.6 offensive rating — points scored per 100 possessions — the Magic are at 116.7 in 14 games since.
A big piece of that, Orlando coach Jamahl Mosley said, is being able to settle into predictable rotations.
“I think guys get a little comfortable knowing where they’re going to come into the game, go out of the game,” Mosley said. “… It’s different when you have minutes restrictions, guys bumping in, trying to get guys rhythm. Now that’s kind of passed a little bit, guys know exactly what they’re expected to do when they step on the floor.”
Oklahoma City leads the league in points off turnovers at 22.1 per game. The Magic have the fifth-highest average of opponents’ points off turnovers at 16.3. The Thunder are second at 14.7.
In the Feb. 3 matchup between the teams, Oklahoma City outscored Orlando 28-17 off turnovers.
While the Thunder are mostly healthy, with only Jalen Williams (hamstring) sidelined, the Magic are a bit more short-handed.
Franz Wagner remains out with an ankle injury, while Anthony Black has missed the past five games with an abdominal strain and Jonathan Isaac sat out the past two with a left knee sprain.
–Field Level Media
