After veteran center Isaiah Hartenstein and the Oklahoma City Thunder's second straight loss to the Portland Blazers, he kept it 100 about his team's recent shortcomings. As Thunder All-Star Chet Holmgren inches closer to returning to the court, Hartenstein says Oklahoma City needs a new approach amid injury woes, which continued when Ajay Mitchell sat out Wednesday's 118-108 loss in Portland. Add him to the list, alongside Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Nikola Topic, Thomas Sorber, and, of course, Holmgren.

Still, Hartenstein refuses to feel sorry about the Thunder's current predicament, he said, during his postgame media availability.

“We know what the reality is: we have a lot of guys out, but we don't want to make excuses,” Hartenstein said. “Throughout the game, we had a chance to win those games. We're just a team that doesn't want to make excuses if calls don't go our way, if shots don't go our way, if guys are out; we just want to do the best we can. It was still a winnable game.

“I think we can still get better at stuff. It shows a lot of what our group is. A lot of teams — I think — would go into this game and act like it's over, and I don't think we ever go in with that mindset. If you look at the roster right now, Chet's out, Caso's out, Dub, Ajay; that's a lot of buckets on the board, and a lot of impact players. But guys have been stepping up this whole process, and we just want to keep building.”

Thunder's Isaiah Hartenstein finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds, six assists, and two steals against the Blazers. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 31 points on 9-for-20 shooting, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal. Portland kept the Thunder at bay for most of the first three quarters before the Blazers held Oklahoma City to 23 points in the final frame to seal a 10-point win.

For Isaiah Hartenstein, finding continuity with Thunder rookie Aday Mara, who started in place of Holmgren, is key to unlocking the Thunder's unforeseen frontcourt potential.

“We're in a situation where I have to be versatile,” Hartenstein added. “Trying to figure out how we can make me and Aday work at the same time. I think that's going to be big for us. We don't have much practice. So, we're really just figuring it out during the game. We're talking through the game. We're trying to get better through the game. He's a very talented player, and I think I'm a great big in the league. So, I think trying to get us as many minutes as possible, I think, playing together is one of those ways you can do that.”

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Hartenstein thought back to when he was first paired with Holmgren during his first season with the Thunder, and how the two bigs found their footing in head coach Mark Daigneault's double-big starting lineup.

“Looking back, when me and Chet first went on the court, the first four games I was like, ‘There's no way this is going to work,' and it became one of our best lineups,” Hartenstein said. “We're just going to have to keep figuring out ways of how to make it work. That's just the situation that we're in right now.”

The Thunder's four-game road trip continues against the LA Clippers in an NBA Cup matchup on Friday.