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Oklahoma City Thunder bigs Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein combined for six steals and four blocks in Saturday’s 117-115 series-clinching win against the Memphis Grizzlies. The tandem played a significant role in forcing 21 turnovers as the Thunder narrowly defeated the Grizzlies in Game 4 to complete a 4-0 sweep and advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Hartenstein says adapting to one another was fluid in their first playoff series. With only 32 regular-season games played together, Isaiah says the pairing found continuity amid the Thunder’s four-game sweep against the Grizzlies.
“Part of it is naturally, but I think, especially in the playoffs, that’s when we get more into detail,” Hartenstein said. “You kind of know what each player is going to do. You know when to rotate. Now, with me and Chet, I think we’ve got it more figured out. When one person goes, the other person has to rotate. At the beginning, it was a little harder because we both went to the rim and gave up some threes every now and then. But I think now we’ve figured out when and when not to go.”
For Holmgren, communication makes all the difference on the defensive end of the floor, especially alongside another seven-footer, which the Thunder, of course, didn’t have at their disposal in last year’s playoffs.
“Just understanding that even though we’re out there together, it’s not always going to be the look. We’re going to have different matchups and different schemes based on who we’re playing, who’s out on the floor, and we just have to do a good job of communicating with each other on both ends of the floor, knowing where each other is,” Holmgren said.
Thunder's Isaiah Hartenstein averaged 9.0 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.3 steals against the Grizzlies.
What Mark Daigneault is demanding of Chet Holmgren, Thunder
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault applauded Chet Holmgren’s shooting against the Grizzlies. It was one of the facets of his game that stood out most, and Daigneault wants to see more of the same throughout the postseason.
“You’re never trying to force a certain number up there, but he did a good job of being open and available. We did a good job of finding him,” Daigneault said. “I actually thought in Game 4, there were a couple more available to him that he could have taken. But we want him ripping open shots. It’s such a threat. It creates great floor spacing. It puts him in close-out situations. He shoots it efficiently.”
Holmgren made 42.3% of his threes on 6.5 attempts. He also averaged 18.5 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 2.5 blocks against the Grizzlies.
