The confrontation drew double technicals for both Hartenstein and Jackson, though viewers may have been confused as to what actually provoked it. One play earlier, Jackson came around a Hartenstein screen and slapped Gilgeous-Alexander as he missed a jumper and appeared to land awkwardly.
But the finger-pointing followed an innocuous play where Giannis Antetokounmpo lost his footing in the lane, then called timeout. As the Greek Freak lay on the ground, he appeared confused at exactly why both teams had to be separated. Although, since it was a basketball fight, no one was ever in danger of actually throwing or receiving a punch.
While there’s no Best Teammate Award for the NBA Cup, Hartenstein appears to be making a case for the title. During the Thunder’s semifinal win over the Houston Rockets on Saturday, Cason Wallace received a technical foul for a confrontation with Alperen Sengun.
After the game, Hartenstein offered to cover whatever the NBA docked Wallace for the technical.
While Hartenstein and Jackson didn’t come to any physical showdown, the OKC center may have hoped that sticking up for his teammate could reverse his team’s poor shooting from behind the arc. The Thunder shot 1-for-17 from three-point range in the first half of Monday’s NBA Cup final, which is how they trailed 51-50 at halftime despite shooting 63 percent on three-pointers.
The only question is whether these technicals will count toward the season totals of Hartenstein and Jackson. The wins, losses and player stats from this final game don’t count in the record books. For the purpose of fines, the two players hope the T’s don’t count either.
