Chet Holmgren shines for Thunder in NBA Summer League victory
The return of Chet Holmgren continues to make waves at the Las Vegas Summer League.
Holmgren finished with 25 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and two assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to a 98-87 win over the Indiana Pacers on Wednesday at Cox Pavilion.
The No. 2 pick in the 2022 NBA Draft shot 9-for-15 from the field, 0-for-2 from deep and 7-for-8 free-throw line.
“Just getting a feel out there, not only for myself but also for my teammates,” Holmgren said. “They’re getting a feel for how to play with me and vice versa, which is great, and I only see it continue to build from here on out and continue to get kind of the feel for the game back. Some of the touch on some of these shots and we’re only getting better.”
Holmgren played 30 minutes against the Pacers after sitting out Tuesday during Oklahoma City’s loss to the Houston Rockets.
While Holmgren was his team’s top scorer, his first field goal did not come until early in the second quarter. He received a pass at the 3-point line, before driving to the paint and maneuvering around his defender into a hook shot off the glass.
Two minutes later, the 7-foot-1, 208-pound big man soared above the rim to finish an alley-oop pass from Jared Butler to extend the Thunder’s lead to 26-19.
However, Holmgren made his biggest impact as a rim protector, helping to hold Indiana to 37.9% shooting from the field.
Holmgren pinned a layup attempt from Ben Sheppard off the backboard late in the first quarter, which led to a bucket from Jeremiah Robinson-Earl on the other end.
He blocked four more shots, including three in the fourth quarter as the Thunder finished off an 11-point win.
“He kind of leads the charge on that end of the floor for us defensively,” said Thunder Summer League head coach Kameron Woods about Holmgren. “He does it with his rim protection, which is loud. I think he's done a nice job of also leading us with his voice. As he starts to get more comfortable on that end of the floor, really commanding things on that side of the ball.”
Aside from erasing potential buckets, Holmgren’s shot-blocking ability provides an added sense of security to the rest of Oklahoma City’s defense.
“We know we have Chet behind us, so we can put a lot of pressure,” said Ousmane Dieng. “...It’s really easy.”
It’s unclear if the Thunder, who have a 2-1 record in Las Vegas, will shut down Holmgren for the final two Summer League matchups.
Oklahoma City faces the Washington Wizards at 1:30 p.m. PST on Friday at Cox Pavilion.
