Isaiah Hartenstein Drops First Career Triple-Double in OKC Thunder Win

Oklahoma City has missed Isaiah Hartenstein.

In Tuesday's game against the Orlando Magic, the OKC Thunder were as healthy as they have been in a long time, only missing All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams and top bench creator Ajay Mitchell from their rotation. It is also the best they have looked in a long time, earning a massive blowout over the Magic, 128-92.

This marked Isaiah Hartenstein's third game back in the lineup for the Oklahoma City Thunder after his second missed stint with a right soleus strain that has seen him be held out of over 20 contests so far this season.

There is no question about how important the seven-footer is to the Thunder. He is the largest free agent signing –– figuratively and literally –– in team history and was vital in getting this team its first championship a year ago.

Now, as the Oklahoma City Thunder attempt to be the first team to win back to back titles since 2018, that is still true as the Thunder's record with Hartenstein is much better than without their man in the middle.

OKC Thunder, Isaiah Hartenstei — Dec 28, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein (55) runs down the court during a play against the Philadelphia 76ers during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Isaiah Hartenstein Shows His Value for OKC Thunder with Triple-Double

In his third game back after a 16-game layoff, Hartenstein posted his first career triple-double in Oklahoma City's win over Orlando. He turned in 12 points, hauled in 10 rebounds and dished out10 assists while being a +24 in this contest over his 23 minutes of work, becoming the tenth player in Thunder history to log a triple-double.

"He was awesome. Congrats to him. That's his first career triple-double, in like 22 minutes. That's like Westbrook stuff," Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault said postgame.

Isaiah Hartenstein becomes the 10th Thunder player to register a triple-double.
Per Thunder
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) February 4, 2026

All of that was needed for Oklahoma City to keep its distance from Orlando. Most importantly though was his work on the glass to let the Thunder win the rebounding battle 63-44. It was not just the ten he collected, but the number of times he put his big, bruising body into Magic low men to create a rebound for others to take up the floor, or perfectly placed long bounces off the cup and tap out deflections that someone else was able to clean up.

Mix in his playmaking, and this game showed the full range of impact of Hartenstein. Down Williams and Mitchell, the team's two best shot creators not named Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and the non-superstar minutes could have gotten messy in Bricktown –– as seen in recent weeks.

Instead, as the high post hub Hartenstein was able to dish out dimes and manufacture high-quality looks for his teammates to keep the scoreboard going in the right direction and earn this lopsided win on the front end of a back-to-back set as the Thunder prepared to travel to San Antonio and take on the Spurs on Wednesday.

No one benefited more from this career night from the Thunder big man than sharpshooter Isaiah Joe. The Arkansas product had a game-high 22 points, most of which came from feeds by Hartenstein. Joe shot 8-for-12 from the floor and 5-for-8 from downtown, flying off dribble handoffs from Oklahoma City's starting big man.

Hartenstein is incredibly valuable for the Oklahoma City Thunder, and this game shows it. Up next, the Bricktown Ballers have to tackle the challenge of playing the San Antonio Spurs for the fifth time this season and the second such meeting on the second night of a back-to-back for Oklahoma City.