Latest Stretch Proves Isaiah Hartenstein's Importance for OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City has been slipping lately, and it’s showing just how important its starting big man is.

On Monday night, the Thunder hosted the Charlotte Hornets with aspirations to bounce back from a loss at the buzzer in Phoenix a night earlier. Instead, the Thunder were unable to find any rhythm on either end and suffered their largest loss of the season, a 124-97 embarrassment.

While plenty of numbers jump off the page for Oklahoma City, particularly offensively, the rebounding disparity again went convincingly against the Thunder. Charlotte brought down 52 rebounds to Oklahoma City’s 33, with Moussa Diabate’s 12 rebounds, including six on the offensive glass, being the catalyst for the 19-board advantage.

While he might not have been able to singlehandedly shift the rebounding battle, Isaiah Hartenstein’s presence was clearly missed on the glass. Averaging 11.2 points and 10.4 rebounds this season across 24 games, Hartenstein has been a consistent presence on the interior.

Along with his reliable play as a traditional big, Hartenstein is also among the league’s best passers at his position. With the Thunder’s offensive struggles as of late, they sure seem to be missing Hartenstein’s perfect passes to cutters and DHOs.

With that type of consistency out of the lineup, it’s easy to see how the Thunder’s floor can drop dramatically and result in a 27-point loss to a lottery-bound Hornets squad. While Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams’ star power is what will make or break the Thunder’s hopes of repeating, Hartenstein has a strong case to be the team’s second-most important player as far as raising the floor.

Games like this have rarely happened for the Thunder over the past couple of years, but they are particularly rare when a healthy Hartenstein is on the floor.

After originally going out with a soleus strain after the Nov. 26 game, Hartenstein has made only five appearances, with no stretch of games being longer than three.

Considering it’s still only January and the Thunder are far more concerned about May and June, getting him to a true 100% should be the top priority. With an 18-1 record before he originally suffered this injury, it might not be far-fetched to say the Thunder could return to their dominant form when he’s back on the floor.

In the meantime, Oklahoma City still holds the league’s best record and is in the driver’s seat to once again secure home-court advantage for the entire postseason. But navigating the rest of the grueling 82-game season will continue to be tougher as long as the Thunder’s rock inside is on the sidelines.