Isaiah Hartenstein had a career-high 33 points and 19 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings 132-101 on Friday night.The 7-foot Hartenstein made 14 of 17 shots and had three assists and three blocks.Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 30 points to help the Thunder (9-1) bounce back two nights after suffering their only loss of the season in Portland.Cason Wallace scored 15 points and Isaiah Joe added 13 as the Thunder won their first game of the NBA Cup tournament.Oklahoma City led by 23 and took advantage of the absence of Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis, outscoring the Kings 60-34 in the paint. Sabonis sat out his second consecutive game with sore ribs.Sacramento’s Russell Westbrook, who spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder and is the franchise’s leading scorer, had 24 points and nine assists against his former team.The Thunder beat the Kings for the second time in 11 days, having won 107-101 in Oklahoma City on Oct. 28.In that game the Kings had a healthy Sabonis while the Thunder played without Chet Holmgren.It was a complete reverse this time. Sabonis watched from the bench in street clothes while Holmgren had 10 points and seven rebounds.The Kings trailed by 11 midway through the first quarter but Monk made a pair of 3s in the final two minutes as Sacramento rallied to lead 32-30.Hartenstein helped the Thunder regain the lead in the second quarter. He scored 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting and exchanged words with Kings center Drew Eubanks after a three-point play in the second quarter.Up nextThunder: At Memphis on Sunday night.Kings: Host Minnesota on Sunday night.See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
Isaiah Hartenstein had a career-high 33 points and 19 rebounds and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Sacramento Kings 132-101 on Friday night.
The 7-foot Hartenstein made 14 of 17 shots and had three assists and three blocks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander added 30 points to help the Thunder (9-1) bounce back two nights after suffering their only loss of the season in Portland.
Cason Wallace scored 15 points and Isaiah Joe added 13 as the Thunder won their first game of the NBA Cup tournament.
Oklahoma City led by 23 and took advantage of the absence of Sacramento big man Domantas Sabonis, outscoring the Kings 60-34 in the paint. Sabonis sat out his second consecutive game with sore ribs.
Sacramento’s Russell Westbrook, who spent his first nine NBA seasons with the Thunder and is the franchise’s leading scorer, had 24 points and nine assists against his former team.
The Thunder beat the Kings for the second time in 11 days, having won 107-101 in Oklahoma City on Oct. 28.
In that game the Kings had a healthy Sabonis while the Thunder played without Chet Holmgren.
It was a complete reverse this time. Sabonis watched from the bench in street clothes while Holmgren had 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Kings trailed by 11 midway through the first quarter but Monk made a pair of 3s in the final two minutes as Sacramento rallied to lead 32-30.
Hartenstein helped the Thunder regain the lead in the second quarter. He scored 15 points on 7-of-7 shooting and exchanged words with Kings center Drew Eubanks after a three-point play in the second quarter.
While the Nuggets didn’t change their 18-man roster at the 2024 NBA trade deadline, other contenders around the league made a variety of moves — mostly on the margins — in an effort to steal the throne from Denver.
From the view at altitude, here are the winners and losers of the deadline:
Winner: New York Knicks
The leader of every other winners-and-losers think-piece is the leader of this one, too. New York landed Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks on deadline day at relatively low cost, but the Nuggets already got a close-up view of the new Knicks when O.G. Anunoby registered six steals against them at MSG. With Milwaukee reeling and Philadelphia hedging after Joel Embiid’s injury (Buddy Hield was a solid middle-ground acquisition), New York suddenly transformed into the most proactive win-now team in the East this deadline.
Loser: Dallas Mavericks
In arguably the highest-profile trade on actual deadline day, Dallas overpaid for P.J. Washington, whose 13.6 points per game felt somewhat like empty calories in Charlotte. The trade was simultaneously an admission of failure in the Grant Williams Experiment and a brand-new roll of the dice. More importantly, the Mavericks did what the Knicks avoided: They traded a precious first-round pick (2027). Future: mortgaged. Draft assets are close to extinct now for Dallas, a franchise throwing darts at the wall and hoping one will stick before it’s too late to salvage and extend the Luka Doncic era.
Winner: Boston Celtics
Is Xavier Tillman going to be a significant role player in Joe Mazzulla’s playoff rotation? Probably not. Will the Celtics feel a lot more comfortable having an affordable, playable backup big ready to aid the injury-prone Kristaps Porzingis and aging Al Horford? Absolutely. Especially if they’re dealing with six or seven games of Nikola Jokic. This was a depth move that felt tailored to fit a Nuggets NBA Finals matchup, but it cost Boston only two second-round picks to add a salary under $2 million.
Loser: Oklahoma City Thunder
The Thunder should have done what Boston did. Don’t get me wrong: Gordon Hayward seems like an outstanding veteran addition to a young team. A lot of teams would have pursued him if Charlotte had bought out his contract. But Oklahoma City’s biggest need still hasn’t been addressed. Back in October, I asked Michael Porter Jr. for his first impressions of Chet Holmgren after Denver won in OKC. “I think he’s very, very talented,” Porter said. “To me, he’s more of a four.” Holmgren, who has an even more injury-prone body type than Porzingis and already missed all of last season, is the Thunder’s starting five. Sophomore charge-taking specialist Jaylin Williams (6-foot-9) backs him up. The center position runs dry from there. For a team so small and with a rebounding weakness (No. 27 in the league), it seems neglectful not to dip into a horde of 10,000 picks and add a more traditional five to at least deploy in bench lineups. Without reinforcements, Holmgren is susceptible to getting worn down by Jokic in a long series.
Winner: Monte Morris
Congratulations to one former Nuggets backup point guard, who moved from the league’s most puzzling team (Detroit) to a Western Conference title contender. Smart trade for the Timberwolves, who needed more offense to support their top-rated defense. Minnesota’s two most common lineups involving point guard Mike Conley have net ratings of 9.6 and 7.6, respectively, in 635 combined minutes. The most common lineup without Conley on the floor is a minus-5.1 in 127 minutes (a lineup including Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns), and second-most common without Conley is a modest 4.9 in 100 minutes (using all four starters except him). Morris supplies 3-point shooting and an upgrade in turnover prevention for an offense that’s third-worst in the NBA at protecting the ball in clutch time.
Loser: Bruce Brown
Pour one out for a different former Nuggets backup point guard. Brown did the Reverse Morris three weeks ago, getting traded from a young playoff-caliber core in Indianapolis to a losing team. But the league-wide expectation was that Toronto would flip Brown. There was a market for his versatility and recent championship experience. So he waited and waited, until the deadline passed Thursday, leaving him temporarily stranded in Canada. Brown was just one bullet point on a list of head-scratching decisions by the Raptors, also including their forfeiture of a 2024 first-round pick among other assets for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji.
Winner: The NFL
The most lopsided final score of the 2024 sports calendar so far: Super Bowl week vs. NBA trade deadline week. The NFL needn’t worry about its biggest build-up of the season getting hijacked by the NBA thanks to the latter’s new collective bargaining agreement. This was the most boring trade deadline in recent memory. The two biggest deals occurred in January. The biggest surprises were the players who didn’t get traded. Football kept a firm grasp on media attention.
Loser: Hourglass emojis
Is nothing sacred? When LeBron James drops a cryptic social media post and his team doesn’t move heaven and earth for him, that’s when you know it’s an underwhelming trade deadline. The hourglass emoji turned out to be a symbol for NBA fans’ feelings as they refreshed Twitter on Thursday. Among the notable teams to stand pat: Nuggets, Clippers, Lakers, Warriors, Pelicans, Kings, Cavaliers, Magic and Hawks. That encompasses a decent chunk of the Western Conference playoff picture, perhaps an encouraging sign that the rest of the league isn’t catching up with Denver at an alarming pace. Nonetheless, LeBron’s hourglass emoji, and yours, was unfulfilled.
SALT LAKE CITY, UTAH – JULY 05: Chet Holmgren #7 of the Oklahoma City Thunder looks on during a NBA … [+] Summer League game against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Arena on July 05, 2022 in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Alex Goodlett/Getty Images)
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The Oklahoma City Thunder took a huge step in the right direction this summer when they selected Chet Holmgren with the No. 2 overall pick in the 2022 NBA Draft. A true cornerstone talent, the 7-footer was set to immediately start at center for the rebuilding Thunder and form a young, rising trio alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey.
However, his rookie campaign has been pushed out a year following a season-ending foot injury suffered at a pro-am event over the summer. A Lisfranc injury to his right foot will keep Holmgren out for the entire 2022-23 season.
On a positive note, there’s a good chance that this injury won’t affect him once fully recovered. This has emerged as a fairly common sports injury with a high success rate upon return to action.
While Holmgren won’t be taking the floor this season, there’s still a huge opportunity for him to improve leading up to his NBA debut at the start of the 2023-24 campaign.
Just days after his foot surgery, the Gonzaga product had already started putting in work. He had began lifting weights for upper body strength and shooting a basketball, which was completely fine as long as he didn’t put weight on the injured foot.
“I can pretty much work out anything that’s not putting weight to my foot,” Holmgren told the media at a recent presser.
One of the main things the No. 2 pick needs to improve on to reach his ceiling is adding weight and strength. While he won’t be able to put an emphasis on his lower half and base in the near future, this is a great opportunity for him to start eating the right way and focus on strengthening his upper body and gaining weight.
Holmgren is wise for a 19-year-old and has the right mindset as he continues his recovery journey.
“Recovery is going great,” Holmgren said during training camp. “I just want to take it one day at a time and really maximize my time.”
The 7-footer disclosed that even though he wasn’t necessarily a part of the Thunder’s practices during camp, he was at the facility from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. every day cheering on his teammates, evaluating from the sideline and then ultimately putting in his own work on the side.
It’s important for Holmgren to stay close to the team over the next year so that he can learn his teammates, the Thunder system and what it’s like to play at the NBA level.
“It’s great to be able to learn and get better in any capacity that I can,” the rookie said during camp. “I’m trying to soak up the knowledge of how things are done around here so when I get back in there I can seamlessly plug myself in.”
Although he was on a scooter for several weeks following his foot surgery, that didn’t hold Holmgren back from working on his craft. He’s an extremely hard worker and still found ways to work on his shot in preparation for next season.
It’s important to note that Holmgren won’t be traveling on every road trip with the team this season, which allows him to maximize his time ensuring a speedy and successful recovery.
“He’s going to be able to reallocate his time,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault. “He’s not playing in games, which is a huge amount of your time. Not only in the weight room, but in a holistic way.”
With that in mind, he did travel to Minnesota for Oklahoma City’s home opener against the Timberwolves, visiting his home state to see friends and family. This was one of our first looks at Holmgren working out on the court still in a boot, but without his scooter.
It’s incredible to see a 7-footer as smooth as Holmgren take one-legged fade shots from all over the court during his recovery. While he’s not able to undergo full workouts with both feet, it’s clear he’s still able to work on certain moves and add to his offensive repertoire this early in the process.
This isn’t the first time an elite talent and high draft pick has missed their entire first NBA season. Guys like Joel Embiid and Blake Griffin were put in similar situations due to injury and turned out just fine.
In fact, Holmgren spent time this summer before suffering the injury in the gym working with Embiid. After having surgery, he was in contact with both Embiid and his training staff getting advice about what he could to do continue improving and be a better player when this is all over.
“It’s always great to look at something and know it’s been done before. It’s not some impossible feat,” said Holmgren when asked if he’s looked at players like Embiid and Griffin as analogs for his own situation.
Even off the court, a huge part of getting acquainted to the NBA is learning to be a professional when games aren’t happening. During the grind of an 82-game season, there’s a ton of travel and other commitments all season long.
The veteran of the team is center Mike Muscala, who’s also a Minnesota native and will be a key mentor for Holmgren this year. When asked about how the rookie can improve this season while injured, Muscala had good insight.
“Just to be around the teams. Be around the practices and the games,” said the 31-year-old. “He’s a smart guy and has a high level of awareness. I think just to soak it all in. Watching film. Being in the weight room.”
The life of an NBA player is fast-paced and something no player entering the league at Holmgren’s age has ever experienced.
“It just comes down to putting my mental energy towards it and becoming a professional off the court,” said Holmgren.
Outside of learning to be a professional, Holmgren is also becoming a true student of the game. In fact, Daigneault called him a “film junkie” at Media Day, saying the 7-footer is already to the point where he is cutting his own film.
This recovery program is all a completely new scenario for Holmgren, who hasn’t been injury prone in the past. Despite having a slender build all of his life, he’s been durable and this is the first major injury of his career.
“I’ve never had a serious injury in my life, so I had nothing to base it off of or compare it to,” said Holmgren.
Regardless, the Thunder have a great plan in place with their new unicorn prospect. As he improves physically over the next year and soaks in what it’s like to be a professional and play in the NBA, don’t be surprised when Holmgren comes out next season and looks like one of the best young players in the entire league.
“As good of a player as he is and as excited as we are about him, he’s an unfinished product,” Daigneault said recently. “He’s got a long way to go in a lot of different areas. He knows that, it’s part of the reason why we love him. He’s gonna invest himself in those areas and set himself apart as far as he can for when the ball is back in his hands.”
We’re about a year out from Holmgren’s regular season debut, but he’s doing all of the right things to set himself up for success when that day comes.
