It wasn’t long ago when the Thunder were forced to start 6-foot-5 Jalen Williams at center, owing to early season injuries suffered by Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams.
Now that the Thunder are whole again, they are closer to the team many envisioned when they signed Hartenstein last summer. In Sunday’s 130-123 win over the Timberwolves, they again fielded two 7-footers in the frontcourt — Holmgren and Hartenstein — to go with Williams, Luguentz Dort and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the wings.
This super-big lineup has proved to be a terror for opponents, who’ve had to adjust on the fly to counter their positional disadvantage. Both Holmgren and Hartenstein are agile, can protect the rim and switch onto smaller players out of screens. As for Dort, Williams and SGA, all three are adept at guarding up to four positions with their length.
It’s not just the defensive versatility. This lineup excels on offense, too. In the four games they’ve played together thus far, the five-man unit has averaged 38.0 points from just 14.5 minutes. No other five-man lineup has amassed as many points per 36 minutes, not even the Knicks, Celtics or Nuggets’ established starting units.
The scary thing for the NBA is this starting unit is just getting its feet wet. Holmgren hasn’t missed a beat since returning from his hip fracture, shooting 43.8 percent from three while averaging 3.4 blocks. Even more scary is OKC has consistently led the NBA in all defensive metrics despite injuries. And now that the Thunder are healthy, they have the perfect opportunity to carry the momentum into the playoffs.
As impressive as the Thunder have been the last two seasons — the youngest No. 1 seed in history — some have doubted their ability to handle size and physicality. That was the verdict after they lost to the Mavs in last year’s playoffs and to the Bucks in this year’s NBA Cup.
With Holmgren and Hartenstein manning the paint, teams can’t afford to “big boy” OKC anymore. It would be a futile strategy.