Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Who would have ever expected Isaiah Hartenstein to become the main character of a conference finals game?
In today’s SI:AM:
⛈️ Thunder bounce back
🎙️ Fernando Mendoza interview
🇺🇸 Inside USMNT’s World Cup prep
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That’s one way to stop Wemby
The Western Conference finals are tied at a game apiece after the Thunder bounced back to beat the Spurs in Game 2 on Wednesday night, 122–113.
Like Monday night’s Game 1, it was another tightly matched game. Although OKC led for most of the second half, its lead never stretched to double digits in the final 22 minutes. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander showed again why he’s won back-to-back MVP awards, and the Thunder got solid contributions from bench players like Alex Caruso, Jared McCain and Ajay Mitchell.
The biggest story, though, was how the Thunder neutralized Victor Wembanyama. After a historic showing (41 points and 24 rebounds) in San Antonio’s Game 1 win, Wemby put up a more mortal 21 points and 17 boards. The difference was the defense on him by Isaiah Hartenstein.
Hartenstein, a burly 7-footer who signed with the Thunder before last season to improve their physicality near the rim, hardly played in Game 1. He logged just 12 minutes after playing at least 20 minutes in each of OKC’s previous eight games this postseason. The reason was that he couldn’t effectively contain Wembanyama. (Although, to be fair, neither could anyone else.)
Last night was different, though. Hartenstein found the key to keeping Wemby in check: Just knock the crap out of him on every play and hope the refs don’t call a foul.
I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that Hartenstein spent the entire night keeping Wembanyama restrained in a literal straitjacket. His defense would have drawn a flag from an NFL official, never mind an NBA ref. At one point in the first half, NBC showed a supercut of Hartenstein’s questionable defensive tactics. Any one of the plays featured in the highlight package could have been called a foul. None of them were.
ESPN showed Hartenstein's highlights and it was just him hacking Wemby 😭 pic.twitter.com/iBR3ipnqIb
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) May 21, 2026
Give Hartenstein credit, though. If the refs are going to allow him to maul the opposing team’s best player on nearly every possession, then there’s no reason to stop doing it. Like a baseball pitcher feeling out the dimensions of the umpire’s strike zone, Hartenstein knows how to test the limits of what he can get away with. It’s cheap, dirty and frustrating to watch, but it’s also smart basketball from a veteran.
There was one play by Hartenstein, though, that was totally inexcusable. Early in the fourth quarter, as Hartenstein and Stephon Castle went after a rebound, Hartenstein unmistakably pulled Castle’s hair. Again, no foul was called.
Castle gets his hair pulled from Hartenstein pic.twitter.com/kqCmIzcHD7
— Rate the Refs (@Rate_the_Refs) May 21, 2026
Say what you will about Hartenstein’s aggressive defense on Wembanyama—at least those were basketball plays. What he did to Castle, however, was just dirty. It wouldn’t be a shock if it led to a suspension.
Game 3 can’t play out the same way for Hartenstein. The league should instruct the officials to keep a closer eye on his actions in the paint—not because he’s hampering the biggest star in this series, but because what he’s doing is barely basketball. Even Charles Oakley would think Hartenstein’s grabbing, wrestling and shoving goes too far.
But Wembanyama’s more modest impact wasn’t the only reason the Spurs lost. One of the big reasons is fixable. The other might not be.
Star rookie Dylan Harper exited the game in the third quarter with a hamstring injury and did not return. Harper was excellent in Game 1, putting up 24 points, 11 rebounds, six assists and seven steals while playing an increased role due to De’Aaron Fox’s ankle injury. If neither Harper nor Fox is able to play in Game 3, the Spurs are in trouble.
Equally worrying is Castle’s inability to protect the ball. With Fox out, Castle has functioned as San Antonio’s point guard. And while he has 42 points and 19 assists in the first two games, he also has a staggering 20 turnovers. That’s the most turnovers any player has had in a two-game span in the postseason since the NBA began tracking turnovers in 1984. No other player has had more than 18. The Thunder, by comparison, have had 25 turnovers as a team in the first two games. In a series as tightly contested as this one, every possession matters. Castle can’t keep giving the ball away.
The best of Sports Illustrated
- The Thunder adjusted defensively to handle Spurs star Victor Wembanyama and even the Western Conference finals at 1. But Chris Mannix says the real test for the defending champions will arrive when the series moves to San Antonio.
- Mannix also goes inside the Knicks’ plan to attack Cavaliers guard James Harden on defense and why the Mavericks and head coach Jason Kidd split up.
- Raiders rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza talks to Gilberto Manzano about Tom Brady’s advice on leadership and his Step Brothers-inspired video with quarterback Kirk Cousins.
- A lot has changed since the last time the U.S. hosted the men’s World Cup in 1994. But one thing remains the same: It is still, as USMNT defender Tim Ream calls it, “an opportunity to inspire generations of people.” Jon Arnold sketches out the crucial moment that awaits U.S. soccer on home soil this summer .
- After three consecutive 100-loss seasons, the White Sox look poised to crash the postseason party. Nick Selbe writes that the franchise seems to have laid a sound groundwork for the near future.
- The Big Ten and its commissioner, Tony Petitti, are putting pressure on the SEC to agree to a 24-team College Football Playoff , Bryan Fischer reports.
The top five…
… things I saw last night:
5. Shohei Ohtani’s home run on the first pitch of the game. (He also pitched five scoreless innings, because of course he did.)
4. Pirates right fielder Jake Mangum’s sliding catch to end the inning with the bases loaded.
3. Maggie Flaherty’s one-timer from the blue line to extend the Montreal Victoire’s lead over the Ottawa Charge in the PWHL championship series. Montreal won, 4–0, to clinch the series and win the Walter Cup.
2. Mitch Marner’s slick assist on the Golden Knights’ second goal of their Western Conference final game against the Avalanche. (Vegas won, 4–2.)
1. Stephon Castle’s incredible dunk on Isaiah Hartenstein.
