Oklahoma City's 122-113 win over the San Antonio Spurs in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals on Wednesday night levelled the series at one apiece, and Hoops Tonight argued the single biggest reason was a personnel decision by head coach Mark Daigneault: a much longer leash for centre Isaiah Hartenstein in his battle with Victor Wembanyama.
Hartenstein played 27 minutes after just 12 in Game 1, and Hoops Tonight host Jason Timpf said the German big man's brute physicality reshaped the entire game. "Isaiah Hartenstein fundamentally changed the physical profile of the matchup with his ability to stay on the floor," Timpf said. "He just beat the living hell out of Victor Wembanyama. Basically, Isaiah Hartenstein was just tying up and tackling Victor under the basket and making him have to fight through grabbing and holding to get to any sort of rim protection sequence."
The rebounding column told the story. After being outworked 61-40 on the glass in Game 1, Oklahoma City pulled the margin to 45-41 in Game 2 and matched San Antonio with 17 offensive boards, one more than the Spurs. "By virtue of getting a look that works with Hartenstein on the floor, all of a sudden you give yourself a much better chance to compete physically in the game," Timpf said. "I felt like right around late third quarter, early fourth, mid-fourth, the 50-50 balls started to really heavily go towards OKC."
The pressure also opened cleaner mid-range looks for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, the analyst argued, by stretching Wembanyama away from the rim. "The mid-range shots that both J-Dub and Shai were getting were closer to the basket and cleaner with only the contest coming from the guard," Timpf said. "They were hitting at a pretty high clip early in the game."
Hartenstein himself added eight offensive rebounds and made three floaters that helped solve the spacing concerns that had limited him in Game 1. "If he's making three of the floaters, he's providing spacing," Timpf said. "By getting eight offensive rebounds, he was able to drive a bunch of extra possessions that kind of made up for some of the spacing concerns with him on the floor. The positive impact so greatly outweighed the negative tonight."
Hoops Tonight warned, however, that the strategy is on a knife edge heading into Game 3 in San Antonio on Friday night, because so much of Hartenstein's impact lives on the edge of a foul call. "I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if we go into Game 3 in San Antonio and Isaiah Hartenstein picks up two fouls in the first three minutes and another quick one as soon as he checks back in," Timpf said. "There's a way you can officiate that game where you foul Isaiah Hartenstein out in seven minutes of game time. So much of the rest of this series, as far as whether or not Isaiah Hartenstein will be able to stay on the floor, is going to come down to what they allow him to get away with."
The analyst pointed to a sequence Daigneault had already used a challenge on, where Hartenstein appeared to hook Wembanyama's arm but Wembanyama was whistled for the foul, and noted other plays where the Thunder centre was visibly grabbing the Frenchman's arm as he tried to contest a shot. With both teams now losing key rotation pieces to injury, Hoops Tonight suggested the Spurs may have a path back to the Game 1 physical edge if the whistles tighten on Friday night, but for one evening at least, Hartenstein's brutalism had cracked the code.
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*Originally published on [NBA News Global](https://nbanews.global/article/hartenstein-physical-demolition-wembanyama-hoops-tonight-game-2-wcf-may-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
