Chet Holmgren Compliments Joel Embiid's Dominant Showing vs. Thunder

Saturday night’s matchup between the Philadelphia 76ers and the Oklahoma City Thunder featured a showdown of two star bigs going at it for the first time.

Although OKC’s Chet Holmgren has technically been around for a year, the former second-overall pick missed his true rookie season due to an injury. Similar to his Saturday night opponent, Joel Embiid, Holmgren needed to hold off on competing at the NBA level following an impressive college stint.

The wait for the battle between two three-level scoring seven-footers was worth it. In an intense game that came down to the wire, Embiid and Holmgren traded 68 points in the victory that fell in Philadelphia’s favor.

On OKC’s side, Holmgren checked in for 31 minutes. Putting up 21 shots from the field, Holmgren knocked down 13 of his attempts, with five of them successfully dropping from beyond the arc. He wrapped up the game with 33 points, four points shy of creating a new career-high. In addition to his scoring, the Thunder’s big man totaled six rebounds, three blocks, and two assists.

On the other end of the floor, Holmgren and his teammates had their hands full with the NBA’s defending MVP. Heading into Saturday’s matchup, Holmgren knew what to expect from Embiid. Not only from the tape but also from one of their one-on-one sessions in a pickup setting, which took place prior to last season.

“I knew the caliber of player he is,” Holmgren said after the matchup. “Not only from watching film but also playing against him… Great player.”

Like most NBA centers, Holmgren wasn’t tasked with taking Embiid on solo throughout the entire game. As the Thunder wanted to slow down the MVP’s offensive attack, he was drawing multiple defenders on the catch.

“When you have a skillset but you also have a physical ability in terms of size and strength that complement each other, it’s a real tough guard,” Holmgren explained. “Nobody is guarding players like that one-on-one. It comes down to team defenses and trying to really scheme and make things challenging not just for him but for the other dudes on the floor as well.”

The Thunder put Embiid to the test in several departments, and the Sixers’ big man thrived in all areas. When it came to scoring, Embiid hit eight of his 18 shots from the field. To no surprise, he got to the free throw line for 21 attempts and made all but two of his free throws. He totaled 35 points in 37 minutes of action.

When it came to passing, Embiid once again flashed improvements in that part of his game by dishing out nine assists. Then, on the defensive end, the big man swatted four shots and grabbed 11 rebounds. Bouncing back from his first absence of the year, Embiid nearly collected a triple-double.

“I feel like we had really good moments of that, but as a team, we have to be better,” Holmgren finished. “That’s what the NBA is about — playing against really good players night in and night out and competing — I feel like we did that tonight.”