Thunder vs Hawks takeaways: OKC wins NBA preseason finale, loses Jalen Williams to injury

With the sting of Isaiah Hartenstein’s absence lingering in the air, Thursday’s game only added to the bitterness.

Midway through the second quarter of the Thunder’s 104-99 preseason finale win over the Atlanta Hawks , Jalen Williams landed on another foot . Clearly in discomfort, Williams limped his way to the locker room. Williams has seen the picture more times than he’d like.

Williams wouldn’t return, as the Thunder ruled him out with a left ankle sprain. A couple of the stints Williams missed last season, a few of the lone blemishes of an astonishingly healthy Thunder season, were with ankle sprains.

After confirming Williams' injury, coach Mark Daigneault that the team's staff would "check in the morning."

He finished the night with 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting and three assists in 13 minutes.

More: What does Isaiah Hartenstein's injury mean for OKC Thunder frontcourt options?

Chet Holmgren’s continued rim pressure

Chet Holmgren’s first outing, exclusively buckets inside the arc, seemed more like a preseason fad than a true trend. The next further raised eyebrows. But Thursday’s performance was serious.

Holmgren, the rim runner, looks serious. Aaron Wiggins hinted at it during training camp, but Holmgren has said it all without needing to say anything: The 7-foot-1 sophomore came back a different player. One with eyes for the rim.

In 16 minutes Tuesday, Holmgren added 15 points and four rebounds. His eight first-half free-throw attempts tied the fourth-most attempts he had in any last season. It’s his second time reaching that mark through his three preseason appearances.

Holmgren has barely tried to act as a shooter, instead acting on his shooting gravity to get him to the rim. His pump fakes are quick, his dribble drives are quicker. As a cutter, his awareness seems to have increased. He’s being hit when he rolls to the rim, something he couldn’t always say a season ago.

"(Holmgren's teammates) are doing a great job of finding him," Daigneault said. "He's 7-1 with great hands and great skills, so when we throw him the ball on those rolls, it's really, really impactful for our offense. ... As we came back in the fall, I think the team's done a great job of just recognizing when he's in the action."

He’s doing everything he can to get to the rim. A wiry force that’s learned what he’s capable of, defenses are trying everything they can to keep from fouling Holmgren.

"I do think that the wisdom that you get from 82 games and then the distance from the season, letting that marinate over the summer, and then coming back, knowing what to expect ... (Cason Wallace and Holmgren) are clearly better. That's just textbook development."

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Lineups without Isaiah Hartenstein

The Thunder is still a week away from its season opener at Denver and mere hours removed from announcing that center Isaiah Hartenstein will miss more than a month, but early returns on second units without the German big man are interesting.

After experimenting with lineups that featured Ousmane Dieng as a center, Daigneault went a couple minutes with Jalen Williams at center, a lineup that also featured Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Lu Dort, Cason Wallace and Alex Caruso.

Soon after, Dieng was back at the five.

With both Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams set to be reevaluated this week, Daigneault’s rotations will undoubtedly shift and vary.

But, as always, nothing is off the table.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder vs Hawks takeaways: OKC wins NBA preseason finale, loses Jalen Williams to injury