Isaiah Hartenstein added to Thunder's injury report vs Cavs
Yesterday at 06:03 PM
Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein popped up on the injury report for Thursday's matchup against the Cleveland Cavs after the team announced the veteran has a left calf injury. Hartenstein suffered the injury in a 118-102 win against the Philadelphia 76ers and will be out for the foreseeable future. The Thunder will face the Cleveland Cavs at the Paycom Center in a rematch from last week's loss.
The Cavs snapped Oklahoma City's franchise-record 15-game win streak at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. The Thunder will look to avenge that loss without Hartenstein and Chet Holmgren, who's missed the past 29 games due to a pelvic fracture.
"Isaiah Hartenstein sustained a left soleus strain in last night's game against the 76ers. He will be re-evaluated in approximately one week," Thunder PR announced.
With Isaiah Hartenstein out due to injury, the Thunder could revert to the small-ball approach head coach Mark Daigneault resorted to in the short slew of games between missing Holmgren and Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams' respective returns earlier in the season. Before Hartenstein made his Thunder debut, Jalen Williams started at center with help off the bench. However, with Jaylin readily available, we could see an uptick in his playing time instead of Jalen making the shift.
After a 108-93 loss to the Indiana Pacers, the Cavs bounced back with a 127-117 win on Tuesday in their rematch in Indiana. Cleveland enters the Paycom Center, winning 13 of its last 14 games.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 40-game MVP take after Thunder win
Thunder All-Star Shai Gilgeous-Alexander doesn't consider himself MVP of the 2024-25 campaign. Not yet, at least. It's still too early for him to accept the league's Most Valuable Player, but if he keeps up the level of play he's sustained in 39 games, he'll proudly take the league's distinguished honor.
Gilgeous-Alexander discussed this year's MVP award after the Thunder's win against the 76ers.
"MVPs are never won after 40 games," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "40 more of these, and yeah, sure."
As for being considered one of the NBA's greats, Gilgeous-Alexander says he's one championship away from entering the conversation. For him, that illustrious label is reserved for champions.
"For me, you have to win. Until I do that, I don't put myself in those guys' stratosphere," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "I can't because I haven't won on the biggest stage in the world. I just haven't done that yet, and until then, I don't think I should be in those conversations."
Amid the Thunder's most dominating season in over a decade, Gilgeous-Alexander could enter the chat between now and the foreseeable future.
The post Isaiah Hartenstein added to Thunder’s injury report vs Cavs appeared first on ClutchPoints.
