Gary Payton II put an exclamation mark on the Warriors' upset win vs. the Thunder with a poster dunk over Isaiah Hartenstein in the fourth quarter.

The Oklahoma City Thunder's big free agent signing has filled in the void of Chet Holmgren to perfection, becoming a key piece of its dominant regular season campaign.

Isaiah Hartenstein is on pace to make franchise history for the Thunder in 2024-25. He's played in 25 games for Oklahoma City.

Josue Pavon is an Associate Editor and the Oklahoma City Thunder beat writer for ClutchPoints. Josue got his start as a credentialed media member writing about the Boston Celtics for WEEI.com. He grew into a local on-camera NBA reporter and podcast host for CLNS Media, where he is the co-host of the Cedric Maxwell podcast.

The NBA trade deadline is, for most teams, an exercise in resource-management. Take the Phoenix Suns. They are so desperate for the flexibility to make moves that they just traded one great first-round pick for three bad ones.

As the Oklahoma City Thunder run away with the first seed, Chet Holmgren continues to rehab from his hip fracture. Nearly three months removed from the injury, the 22-year-old's return will provide a massive boost for a title contender that's juggled through injuries all season.

After missing the past five games, Oklahoma City Thunder center Isaiah Hartenstein is no longer on the team’s injury report. Hartenstein suffered a calf injury earlier this month but will join the Thunder on their two-game road trip, starting Sunday against the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Thunder (37-8) enter the contest well-rested. They're fresh off a two-day break. Last time out, they collected a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 35 points and Isaiah Hartenstein returned from a five-game absence due to a calf strain.

The Thunder have hit the Over in eight of 10, and the Warriors have gone Over in three of four. Despite both teams hitting the Under or pushing in at least half of their games this season, the head-to-head record points to a high-scoring affair.

Steph Curry dropped 17 points in the second half and made key plays down the stretch. Andrew Wiggins dropped a team-high 27 points, including five 3-pointers. Kevon Looney matched his regular season career-high with 18 points and Gary Payton II (15 points, nine rebounds) stamped the game with a vicious slam dunk with under a minute left.

As January comes to a close — with a 10-3 record to this point — OKC was afforded a unique week of rest entering Wednesday's game at Golden State.

Gary Payton II credits Denis Schroeder while joking about his recent lack of highlight plays after last night's dunk on Isaiah Hartenstein.