Thunder vs Spurs takeaways: Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein shine in NBA preseason debut

(This story has been updated to add new information.)

SAN ANTONIO — Here are three takeaways from the Thunder's 112-107 win against the Spurs on Monday night in OKC's NBA preseason opener :

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Chet Holmgren, mismatch killer

Thunder center Chet Holmgren sat down with All-Star Paul George in the summer on the latter’s podcast, one of those settings invented for storytelling and often story warping. But Holmgren was honest about last season. Brutally honest.

He wanted to kill mismatches, he told George. Chris Paul, Paul Reed, Reed Sheppard — anyone lacking his standing reach shouldn’t be able to bother him at all, regardless of his wiry frame. If Monday was any indicator, Holmgren made good on his wishes.

In nine minutes, Holmgren had 10 points on 5-for-5 shooting. No jumpers, no 3-point attempts. Just everything he said he’d do.

Faced with tight closeouts, Holmgren dodged contests and played above the rim. At one point, he faked a handoff, an open lane and an invisible (and smaller) defender standing between him and the rim.

Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan caught the brunt of Holmgren’s display.

“There’s multiple ways to do it,” Holmgren said of attacking mismatches. “You can do it in the 1-v-1 setting, you can do it in the action setting. Certain guys aren’t used to guarding in certain situations. Tonight was mostly transition and five-out oriented. A lot of it was quick action, quick rolls, quick catches and reads. Just gotta continue to work on mixing in some of the post-up, one-on-one stuff.”

On one possession, with newcomer Isaiah Hartenstein beside him, Holmgren sprinted into an actual dribble handoff. He caught Sochan backpedaling before hooking a one-hand dunk right over him. Again.

Holmgren eventually exited the game with what appeared to be groin pain. Upon his return to the bench, still in full uniform, coach Mark Daigneault opted to keep him sidelined before he could do any more damage — to Sochan, that is.

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Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein appearing as advertised

Monday was a glimpse of the Thunder’s new veteran acquisitions befitting of the preseason.

Neither Alex Caruso nor Hartenstein started. The two played 17 minutes apiece, making their debuts off the bench in a game that saw Ousmane Dieng, Cason Wallace and Aaron Wiggins slotted in the starting lineup.

Still, both noticeably flipped the game on its head upon arrival.

Caruso brought a not-so-subtle reminder that OKC has quite a few players with skills that overlap his, yet none that do it quite like him.

His swipes seemingly always produce results. They overpower other guards and wings, they surprise forwards and centers. Caruso seemed to account for half the team's deflections alone.

Hartenstein was as advertised. A force worth mentioning down low. A passer worth oohs and aahs. A screener that leaves doctors recommending masks, and ball handlers like Jalen Williams wanting more. The player who OKC general manager Sam Presti tossed a bag to patch holes.

“Defensively, he shuts that thing down in the paint,” Daigneault said of Hartenstein, who also finished with eight rebounds and seven assists. “Him and Chet out there, I thought, was really encouraging on the defensive end.”

For those with early questions of his offensive fit and the initiation process, the 7-footer was already involved in successful actions with Holmgren. Guards orbited around Hartrenstein, and he found them with relative ease. Isaiah Joe will need to get used to Hartenstein, not the other way around.

Perhaps joining up at the same time linked Hartenstein and Caruso by the frontal lobe. One reaches for a ball, the other chases it. One spots up in the proper slot, the other is eyeing the path the ball might take off the rim. Not long after checking in, Hartenstein dribbled inside and drew two defenders, hooking the ball behind him to Caruso with a no-look pass.

“I was just hoping he was looking at that point because it was a little late,” Hartenstein said.

After a sufficient display of connectivity and a sliver of what fans yearned for, the pair retired to the bench, leaving an impact as quickly as they’d reached for deflections and rebounds.

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Rookies show out

Jalen Williams warned that there might be something about those mid-major dudes.

Maybe that they don’t enter with expectations, even after being swapped for five second-round picks like Dillon Jones was. Or after a week of praise from Daigneault, who isn’t so easily impressed yet found ways to show Ajay Mitchell love.

But there might be something there with the mid-major kids after all.

If nothing else, there’s confidence. Dillon Jones oozed it with every pull-up jumper. Ajay Mitchell got gutsy as he knifed through the lane and killed closeouts.

The preseason should be their stage. They seized it.

“We don’t wanna have them overthinking this early on, and I thought their confidence was really high,” Daigneault said.

With Mitchell, who tallied 19 points on 13 shots, there was savvy. Probing through pick-and-rolls, recognizing when the wing was his and his alone. He doesn’t have the dramatic wiry frame that typically means elasticity, but he finds a way to bend around defenses anyway.

Jones showed cojones. A couple of times when possessions went down the preseason abyss, the 240-pound guard got in his isolation bag. En route to 17 points on 11 shots, he showed off sidesteps and off-the-dribble jumpers.

A good day for those playing without expectations. And yet, Daigneault is still keeping them on their toes.

“With that said, their execution was a C,” Daigneault said. “Whatever. It wasn’t great. Nor should it be this early on. But you saw two guys go out there and really compete and play with confidence and try to do the right thing, and that’s all we can ask right now.”

Thunder vs. Rockets

NBA PRESEASON: 7 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center (Bally Sports Oklahoma)

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder vs Spurs takeaways: Alex Caruso, Isaiah Hartenstein shine in NBA preseason debut