SAN ANTONIO — Around Oklahoma City, the message was always the same: Chet Holmgren will be fine. Months had passed since the Thunder were eliminated by the Spurs in the Western Conference finals, since Victor Wembanyama eviscerated Holmgren so badly it spawned questions as to whether a rivalry between the two 7-footers ever really existed. Skeptics sprouted like pigweed, threatening to break through any cracks in Oklahoma City’s foundation. They found none. “We need Chet,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after last season. Added coach Mark Daigneault, “I’m riding with him.”
Oklahoma City knocked off San Antonio in its season opener on Tuesday and make no mistake: Holmgren was the best big man on the floor. His numbers were solid (14 points, seven rebounds, four blocks) but they only told part of the story. The rest was on the defensive end, where Holmgren spearheaded the suffocating defense that held Wembanyama (1-for-13 from the floor) to the worst shooting game of his career.
“Chet's a great defender and a great competitor,” said Daigneault.
Added Gilgeous-Alexander, “When he is himself, [our] team is better. It’s as simple as that.”
The humiliation Holmgren experienced last spring could have sent another player searching for new solutions. Instead, Holmgren simply doubled down on the work. Earlier this week, he explained his philosophy to Sports Illustrated. Never get too high. Never get too low. When the season is over, disassociate yourself from the emotions of it and push forward.
“It's like you're just continually adding a piece to the puzzle,” Holmgren said, “and the puzzle isn't done until the day you make an Instagram post and say, ‘I'm hanging them up. I'm retired, had a great run.’"
Holmgren missed the preseason with a quad injury but if there was any rust, you couldn’t see it. He was aggressive on offense, attacking the rim even with Wembanyama lurking. It wasn’t perfect—Wemby sent back a couple of his shots—but Holmgren just kept coming. Wembanyama’s second-quarter rejection of Holmgren got the sold-out Frost Bank Center crowd on its feet. On the next possession, Holmgren got a piece of Wembanyama’s driving layup, putting most of them back in their seats.
Wembanyama was the first unanimous Defensive Player of the Year award winner last season, which makes it easy to forget that Holmgren was runner-up. On Monday, Holmgren wrestled Wembanyama in the paint and chased him beyond the three-point line. In the past, Oklahoma City has mixed up its matchups with Wembanyama, rotating Isaiah Hartenstein and Jaylin Williams on the supremely skilled superstar. Holmgren started on Wembanyama and stuck with him for virtually all of his 31 minutes. Afterwards, Holmgren didn’t say he asked for the Wembanyama assignment. He didn’t deny it, either.
Said Holmgren, “Those things are kept in house.”
For Holmgren, for Oklahoma City, Tuesday’s win was a reminder: We are still here. The Spurs are a trendy pick to win a championship this season, with good reason. The trio of Wembanyama, Dylan Harper and Stephon Castle is the NBA’s most enviable core, a collection of 20-somethings ready to build on the failure of last June’s Finals loss.
But these Thunder are relentless. Gilgeous-Alexander has collected the last two MVPs and his play in the opener (32 points) shows that he is a viable contender for a third. A hamstring injury disrupted last season for Jalen Williams but the ex-All-NBA wing moved fluidly in 30 minutes on Tuesday night. Jared McCain (20 points, 7-of-9 shooting) looks poised to take a leap while rookie center Aday Mara (seven points, 3-4 shooting) is set to become the latest successful Thunder draft pick.
“Everybody was ready to play, everybody contributed,” said Daigneault. “It was a great collective effort.”
Messages aren’t sent in October and as Oklahoma City well knows, success is earned in May and June. Still, this one was fun. “We were all excited to play basketball today,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder are quick to credit San Antonio for its play in last season’s conference finals. Privately, though, they will note that they finished the series with two of its top players (Williams, Ajay Mitchell) in street clothes. Tuesday’s win, while relatively meaningless, offered a reminder of what Oklahoma City can be at full strength.
“We took a step in the right direction,” said Gilgeous-Alexander. “There's nothing more than that. Now obviously the emotions come in and [we] obviously are a little bit more motivated for the game because of the circumstances, but when you peel back the layers, it doesn't mean much. It's the first game of the season and we're trying to get better every night.”
Indeed. There will be more clashes between these two Western Conference titans, while another grueling playoff series feels inevitable. Spurs-Thunder is the best rivalry in the NBA right now. And it’s just heating up.
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