Thunder triad of Isaiah Hartenstein, Jared McCain and Isaiah Joe fueling wins

OKLAHOMA CITY — Isaiah Hartenstein preys upon relaxation. Don’t let him see an assuming defender’s shoulders drop, or their heels dig behind them like Minnesota Timberwolves guard Ayo Dosunmu’s in Sunday’s fourth quarter. The Oklahoma City Thunder big man broadens his shoulders and widens his stance, brolic, just as 7 feet and 250 pounds would suggest.

The realization flashed in Dosunmu’s eyes a split second too late. His chase of Thunder guard Jared McCain, who orbited around Hartenstein for an open shot, became helpless. What are a couple of seconds when barreling toward a brick wall?

Hartenstein nerds over the nuances of screening like a craftsman. He’s flanked now by two sharpshooters — an improved Isaiah Joe and the newcomer, McCain — who enable him to ramble.

“I think a lot of it is his experiences with all these different teams and players he’s played with,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of the connection Hartenstein has nurtured with Joe and McCain, which helped propel Sunday’s 116-103 win over Minnesota. “He’s really turned screen-setting into an art.”

Screening for reigning MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is different from screening for former teammate Jalen Brunson, same as Brunson’s idiosyncrasies are not James Harden’s. For years, Hartenstein obsessed over tendencies and angles. Three games into life with McCain, he’s already confident detailing the differences between him and Joe.

“I think he’s just really good at, in general, coming off screens, shooting fast,” Hartenstein said of McCain. “I think that’s even a big improvement in (Joe’s) game. He’s coming off a lot faster this year. His feet are set a lot faster. I think it just helps him getting off the shot. He’s one of the best shooters in the league, IJoe.

“IJoe is a little different than Jared ’cause he’s also a great cutter, so you kinda have to be ready for that. Donte (DiVincenzo) was probably the quickest off (the screen), where I could just throw it right behind me. Jared’s a little similar.”

When Sunday summoned that lineup at the start of the second and fourth quarters, Minnesota remained in reach. Oklahoma City forced 22 turnovers (with just seven of its own), yet until that lineup’s late-game insertion, the Thunder offense struggled to create separation.

The Thunder entered the fourth 17 of 38 in the paint (44.7 percent). Gilgeous-Alexander looked hungover from history, shooting 3 of 16 at one point and risking his newly claimed 20-point streak.

Entering Sunday, Hartenstein, McCain and Joe logged 47 minutes together with a plus-38.1 net rating, per DataBallr. They finished Sunday’s win a combined plus-minus of plus-49.

McCain required little rhythm or room. He flashed around Hartenstein’s sturdy screens, firing away off audacious lead passes. McCain and Joe combined for 35 points and nine 3s.

Hartenstein never scored Sunday, only quarterbacked.

“He’s not a box-score junkie,” Daigneault said.

His synergy in New York with DiVincenzo offered the template once the big man arrived in Oklahoma City. Despite flashes, it took Hartenstein and Joe much of last season to cultivate a dependable connection — in part because before Hartenstein, the Thunder hadn’t had a screener remotely close, in style or skill.

Up until last month, McCain didn’t remember playing with a big who pitched passes, a center he can whisk around. His closest reference was his former Duke teammate Kyle Filipowski.

“But not like one who would drop (the ball) and find the screen,” McCain said. “It’s pretty awesome to play with someone like that.”

McCain slipped into a refined role immediately, absent expectations to resemble who he was before a knee injury ended his rookie season. His homework for an evolving defending champion became finding his niche in lineups like this and elevating his defensive intensity to a respectable floor.

He asked questions and learned preferences. Weeks later, he’s seemingly helped form a lethal lineup from a connection that existed well before his integration.

“I watch (Joe) all the time,” McCain said, “and the way he’s able to just come into the game and affect it immediately is just … I watch that, and I want to emulate that.”

Gilgeous-Alexander called the deployment of McCain and Joe alongside him “a match made in heaven.” They’ve also accentuated Hartenstein’s creative freedom. He’s toggling between fancier passes and smaller windows with even more ambition.

“When you just kinda hand it off, you’re more liable to get an offensive foul,” Hartenstein said. “I kinda learned it from Draymond (Green). Draymond used to do it with Steph (Curry). Draymond and (Andrew) Bogut. They would just throw it between their legs, and it gave them some time to be able to screen.”

Factor in Ajay Mitchell, a godsend of a ballhandler, and Chet Holmgren, who inherited much of SGA’s efficiency Sunday en route to 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, and they form a five-man lineup that outscored the Wolves by eight.

The defense is evergreen. Paycom Center remains a pit. Opponents understand they might need to crawl out from underneath Oklahoma City’s physicality and flurry of hands. Stretches like Sunday’s third-quarter close continue with regularity.

Cason Wallace picked Edwards’ pocket in the backcourt. A Naz Reid turnover gave way to a Jaylin Williams 3. A Wallace block forced a shot-clock violation. Each instance happened in a two-minute span. SGA even supplemented his shooting woes with perhaps his best rim-protection game of the season.

But that tenacity is the baseline. As is the reigning MVP’s shotmaking brilliance. They’re the price of admission to assert themselves over their Western Conference constituents.

A title defense demands that the Thunder find production behind versatility and a heap of lineup configurations. That they draw inspiration between lulls.

Hartenstein has his newest muse.