Isaiah Hartenstein finally a big presence on defensive end
The Knicks' Isaiah Hartenstein defends a shot by Cleveland Cavaliers' Donovan Mitchell on Tuesday. Credit: AP/Frank Franklin II
When Isaiah Hartenstein came up with a pair of key defensive stops in the final minute Tuesday night to help the Knicks earn a desperately needed win over the Cleveland Cavaliers it provided him with a sense of relief — not for the night but for the entire season.
Hartenstein doesn’t need to skim through social media or listen to the 18,612 screaming fans at Madison Square Garden to know what it meant to him — or the Knicks — to come up with a big moment.
“It’s big. It’s kind of what I came here for,” Hartenstein said after the game. “I know for myself if I’m not playing as good as I’m supposed to be playing I feel like I’m kind of letting the fans down, the city down a little bit. But I’m just going to keep getting better because I know I can do it. So keep getting better and keep representing for New York.
“I think that’s the main thing. I go into every game and try to not just represent for myself, but also for New York . . . I mean, I played in Europe so we take pride in the city. I take pride in it. I knew I wasn’t playing as good as I’m supposed to. I’m going to keep trying to build up that.”
The spirit may be appreciated by the fan base, but it has been a hard road for Hartenstein to find his place since joining the team as a free agent in the summer. On paper, the two-year, $16 million deal made perfect sense — a rim-protecting center with a far different offensive game to serve as a backup to Mitchell Robinson.
But the defense and athleticism didn’t show as he struggled to deal with a nagging Achilles injury, and his offense seemed lost in the iso-heavy Knicks scheme. He often seemed to look helpless as he searched with his passing ability for a cutter and no one ever moved. In the last four games he has shown at least a spring in getting to the rim, which is a timely step forward with Robinson sidelined by a fractured right thumb.
“Just getting back to how I normally play defense,” he said. “That’s the main thing. It’s not like I’m learning how to play defense or I haven’t done it before. It’s more like a body thing. Getting back to my body feeling better, feel more comfortable. Getting slowly there."
When Tuesday night's game was over and he’d played 23 minutes — more than he’d seen of the floor in two months — he dressed and was about to rush out of the locker room before he was stopped by reporters. Hartenstein is unaccustomed to the attention afforded nightly to the likes of Jalen Brunson, the other free-agent acquisition the Knicks made this summer. Sticking around, he could hear his teammates sing his praises, too. When Hartenstein finished his interview, RJ Barrett screamed, “Great game, Hart.”
Hartenstein spoke about the final defensive stop on Donovan Mitchell to save the game and explained the constant reminders from Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau to go up with verticality rather than reaching, a message that he said was ringing in his head as he saw Mitchell coming to the rim.
"It was terrific, a monster play by him,” Thibodeau said. “He played a super game all around. So that was huge.”
Asked if he would be able to sleep with Thibodeau’s voice in his head, he laughed.
“I’m fine,” Hartenstein said. “I’ve got a beautiful fiancé at home. I don’t think about that.”
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Steve Popper covers the Knicks for Newsday. He has spent nearly three decades covering the Knicks and the NBA, along with just about every sports team in the New York metropolitan area.
