Isaiah Stewart had a phenomenal breakout season in 2024-25 as a defensive specialist. His rim protection numbers were some of the best in the league and he was able to dominate the defensive end in his minutes. Unfortunately, he suffered an injury after Game 1 of the first-round series against the Knicks which kept him out for the remainder of the series.
Naturally, he found himself very frustrated by a serious injury in the most crucial games of the season. When recounting the experience at media day, Stewart expressed his belief that the series result would have been different if he had been healthy.