By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
Isaiah Hartenstein scored seven of his 11 points for the Los Angeles Clippers early in the fourth quarter of the matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers Friday. He enjoyed multiple successful combinations with Eric Bledsoe.
“Bled made my life easy,” he commented on the late contribution, “In the last couple of games we weren’t running that many pick-and-rolls. It’s communication. I think Bled coming to me, talking to me like what he sees or vice versa, helped a lot.”
Hartenstein, 23, has logged 7.5 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 1.1 blocks, and 0.8 steals coming off the bench over 28 appearances in the 2021-22 NBA Regular Season. He was initially signed to a training camp contract in the offseason but managed to earn the 15th and final roster spot. He has since emerged as a solid rotation option for head coach Tyronn Lue.
“In this game, we kind of came back to where our second unit was, the energy and the same rotation we had before when we were on the winning streak,” he added recalling the seven-game winning streak in early November, “I think that makes it a lot easier for us.”
Coming off three losses in a row, the first unit narrowly held on down the stretch and the Clips improved to 12-11 to overtake the Lakers and get to sixth place in the Western Conference. Up next, the Sacramento Kings and the Portland Trail Blazers, on the road Saturday and Monday, respectively.
The German big man, former player of Zalgiris Kaunas in 2016-17, had played in 99 NBA games split between the Houston Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Cleveland Cavaliers, prior to joining the Clippers.
Photo Credit: Getty Images