OKC dealt an injury blow to the Suns clash
Amide Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein’s best start to the season career, Friday’s NBA Cup game against the Suns will be his first injury absence of the season. Hartenstein was ruled out due to pain in his right ankle. He joins Aaron Wiggins (left adductor) on the Thunder injury report.
Thunder All Star Jalen Williams will make his season debut against the Suns. Kenrich Williams, who didn’t make the cut, checked in Wednesday’s 113-105 win against the Minnesota Timberwolves to a standing ovation from the fans at the Pike Center. Jalen will get a warm welcome on Friday.
Hartenstein is averaging 12.2 points on 67.1% shooting, 10.7 rebounds and 1.1 blocks this season. Jaylin Williams could get the nod in coach Mark Dayno’s starting lineup, or we could see the Thunder go a little with Cason Wallace.
Isaiah Hartenstein’s offseason with the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren
Coach Marc Daigneault says yes The Thunder’s dominant record is a byproduct of the effort the defending champions won 18 of their first 19 regular season games. Starting center Isaiah Hartenstein revealed how his offseason workouts with Chet Holmgren and NBA shooting coach Drew Hanlen led to his best start to the season.
“Me and Chet played great together. I think being in LA, with Drew Henlen, helped a lot,” Hartenstein added. “It’s been great for me. I think overall as a team we’ve had a lot of fun. We’ve been so focused on the process, knowing you can’t look too far ahead. You’ve got to be in the moment. You can’t skip steps, and I think that’s what got us off to such a good start.
“We’re not looking too far into the final or playing in it right now. We know we have to go through certain stages during the season to get to where we want to be,” Hartenstein concluded.
The Thunder will look to improve to 19-1 in the NBA Cup game against the Suns on Friday at the Paycom Center.
2025-11-28 21:16:00
