INDIANAPOLIS — On Friday night, Oklahoma City decided to revert to its original lineup used during the initial three rounds of the playoffs, reinstating Isaiah Hartenstein to the starting lineup for Game 4 of the NBA Finals against Indiana.
In this lineup, Hartenstein joined forces with MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, and Chet Holmgren. This configuration presented two 7-footers, Hartenstein and Holmgren, in Oklahoma City’s starting five. The team had performed strongly with this lineup, boasting a 12-4 record during the Western Conference playoffs.
Throughout the regular season, this starting squad held a 9-4 record when they began games together. Earlier, during the finals’ first three games, Oklahoma City opted to have Hartenstein come off the bench, with Cason Wallace stepping in as a starter. During this period, Indiana managed to secure victories in two out of the three games.
Thunder coach Mark Daigneault highlighted his team’s ability to stay flexible, a hallmark of Oklahoma City’s strategy. “We have a lot of optionality that we draw on, almost nightly,” he remarked earlier in the finals. “If you followed our team throughout the season, I think you know that flexibility and adaptability is the only constant. We’re never staying the same. I know we started the same lineup in the playoffs, but our rotation night to night in these series has been incredibly variant. We think that’s a strength of our team.”
This lineup adjustment followed after Indiana scored significantly in the paint, achieving 50 points during Game 3, a jump from the 34 points they amassed in each of the first two games of the series.