Chet Holmgren, OKC Thunder fall short to Dallas Mavericks in Game 6

A memorable and historic season for Chet Holmgren came to an end Saturday after his Oklahoma City Thunder fell to the Dallas Mavericks, 117-116, in Game 6 of the Western Conference semifinals in Dallas, Texas.

The former Gonzaga men's basketball standout battled through foul trouble for much of the night, finishing with a series-high 21 points, three rebounds, three assists and two steals in 35 minutes. Holmgren shot 9-for-15 from the field, including five dunks, but missed six of his seven 3-point attempts. His impact on the defensive end to alter shots at the rim and fight for rebounds was most apparent when he wasn’t on the floor.

OKC, which led by as many as 17 points, outscored Dallas by eight points when Holmgren was on the court, though early foul trouble limited the 7-footer’s minutes in the first half. After he hit the bench with three fouls at the 8:30 mark in the second quarter, the Mavericks got back-to-back scores from Kyrie Irving and Luka Doncic as part of a 7-0 scoring run. Later, Dallas rattled off a 10-0 scoring run after falling behind by 14 points with Holmgren on the bench.

When he was on the floor, Holmgren provided just what OKC needed on both ends of the floor. Backdoor cuts on the baseline and hard dives to the rim after setting a ball screen led to alley-oop dunks. Slipping screens to create an advantage on the backside led to open looks for his teammates. All while contesting layup attempts and battling Derek Lively II under the rim on just about every shot attempt from the outside.

Dallas’ 7-foot-1 rookie fought hard in the elimination game, finishing with 12 points and 15 rebounds. With just under five minutes left in the fourth, the former Duke standout muscled his way right through Holmgren for a tough layup to put the Mavs up 103-101. Later he drew Holmgren’s fifth foul in a battle for a rebound.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led all scorers with 36 points to go with eight assists. Santa Clara product Jalen Williams had 22 points, including a deep 3-pointer from near halfcourt as the first-half buzzer sounded, to go with nine rebounds and eight assists.

Despite OKC’s young stars showing out, the Mavs prevailed behind a combined 52 points from Irving and Doncic plus 22 points from Derrick Jones Jr. After trailing by as many as 17 points, Doncic put Dallas in front for the first time in the second half with a midrange jumper at the 3:39 mark in the fourth quarter. Jones, known as a high-flying athletic wing, knocked down a heavily contested jumper over Holmgren’s outstretched arm to make it 115-110 with 1:11 left in regulation.

Holmgren put OKC back in front with 20.1 seconds left after he finished off an alley-oop from Gilgeous-Alexander. The Thunder were on the verge of forcing Game 7 until Gilgeous-Alexander was called for a shooting foul on PJ Washington, who made two of three free-throw attempts to make it 117-116. Holmgren grabbed the missed free throw and got it to Williams but the three-quarter court heave didn’t fall.

As such, Holmgren’s historic rookie season came to an end. While helping OKC secure the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, Holmgren became the first player in NBA history to finish a season with at least 200 assists, 190 blocks (the most by a rookie this century) and 129 3-pointers made. That unrivaled versatility graded Holmgren as the most impactful rookie over the past five seasons, according to Sportradar.

Holmgren etched his name into the record books throughout his first postseason run as well. In his playoff game debut against the New Orleans Pelicans, he tallied 15 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks — a stat line only Shaquille O’Neal, David Robinson, Patrick Ewing and Kevin Kenner have put together as rookies. A few nights later, Holmgren scored 20 points in the first half — the first rookie to do so in over a decade — and became the first rookie in OKC franchise history to score at least 25 points and grab five rebounds in the playoffs.