Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein will be sidelined at least 10 to 14 days due to a right soleus strain, the team announced Saturday evening. The soleus is a muscle located in the lower part of the calf. Hartenstein sat out Friday's win over the Phoenix Suns due to what the team listed as right ankle soreness. The strain was discovered upon further evaluation.
"The goal for tonight was to get in a rhythm, but it's an adjustment," Williams said. "Game 7 was, what, five months ago? Almost six. Trying to adjust to the physicality now was a little different. A lot of it was just rhythm -- trying not to do too much, just finding the spots where I was comfortable five months ago."
Police on Friday were investigating a burglary at a home reported to belong to the Oklahoma City Thunder's Shai Gilgeous-Alexander that happened while the NBA's reigning MVP was playing a game the night before. The Thunder referred questions to police in Nichols Hills, an enclave north of downtown Oklahoma City. Police would not confirm who lived in the house or say what might have been taken from it.
For perspective, that's like having an eight-point lead with two minutes left in a game. I'm not sure whether people realize how deep OKC is. Last season, the net points metric we use to evaluate players was positive for everyone in the Thunder's rotation and a couple of guys outside of their rotation -- 12 team members in total. In contrast, the Thunder's Finals' opponents, the Pacers, had just five players positive in the regular season.
Without Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers were outscored 56-43 in the second half, leading to their 103-91 loss in the NBA finals against the Thunder.