Isaiah Hartenstein Coming Up Big For OKC Thunder Inside

The Oklahoma City Thunder are still undefeated, and their starting center is a big reason why.

Throughout this season, the Thunder have played in some entertaining contests. From a couple of double-overtime thrillers to a couple of wire-to-wire road wins in Atlanta and Dallas, the Thunder’s season has been far from boring as they begin their title defense.

In Monday’s game against the Mavericks, the Thunder had to fend off a fourth-quarter rally from Dallas as the offense went cold for Mark Daigneault’s squad. While the Thunder weren’t able to produce much on the scoreboard in the final frame, Isaiah Hartenstein was making a clear difference on that end.

Entering the fourth quarter with six rebounds, all on the defensive end, Hartenstein added all five of his offensive rebounds in the final 12 minutes of play. Considering the Mavericks may have just run out of time in their rally, those extra possessions clearly turned out to be critical for the Thunder, even if only one of them turned into points, with that one being Hartenstein doing the damage himself.

Oct 27, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Dallas Mavericks forward Anthony Davis (3) looks to move the ball past Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) during the second half at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

After having to battle Anthony Davis on the interior alongside Chet Holmgren all night, Hartenstein finished the game with 16 points and 14 rebounds while shooting 8-of-11 from the floor. Securing his second double-double of the season, Hartenstein is averaging 10.3 points and 11 rebounds through four games.

As the Thunder continue to get more comfortable with the double-big lineup featuring Holmgren and Hartenstein, the more lethal Oklahoma City’s size can be. While Oklahoma City has already reached the ultimate success with this lineup, the Thunder have leaned on it even more this season with so many injuries in the backcourt and on the wing.

When Sam Presti signed Hartenstein in 2024, the vision was always for him to become a bit of an anchor inside, and he’s been everything Oklahoma City could have hoped for from a rebounding presence. While Hartenstein has been critical to Oklahoma City’s early success, his fouling has been a bit of an issue thus far, averaging four fouls a game, including five in Dallas on Monday and a fouling out in the season opener against Houston.

Still, if that’s the only real concern the Thunder have about their starting center, they’ll happily live with that. As the Thunder get set to face one of the league’s top rebounders in Domantas Sabonis on Tuesday to cap off their first back-to-back, they will again need Hartenstein to put together a well-rounded performance.