Chet Holmgren Faces interesting Test During East Coast Road Swing

The Oklahoma City Thunder are taking a three game road trip to the Eastern Conference to battle playoff teams where Chet Holmgren will face an interesting test.

Feb 23, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) holds up three fingers during a free throw against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images | Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

The Oklahoma City Thunder are set to embark on a difficult three game Eastern Conference road swing, all against playoff teams marking a five game stretch of the Thunder taking on playoff foes.

Oklahoma City will take on the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons and Milwaukee Bucks on this trip in a road swing that sees All-Star Jalen Williams back in Bricktown nursing a hip strain he suffered in Monday's clash with the Denver Nuggets.

OKC will call on Chet Holmgrne to step up in Williams' absence and that will be a difficult task for the Gonzaga product coming off a hip fracture he suffered back on Nov. 10.

However, Holmgren has shown flashes - as recently as Sunday spinning through the lane for a couple splash finishes, beating Jamal Murray off the dribble, en route to 14 points while dealing with foul trouble - of his old self offensively.

Though, it is a process, and if he can't muster enough buckets to help the Thunder in this small sample size it is not an inditement on his long-term future or even his playoff outcome in a weeks.

Holmgren has 17 games to round into form and an entire week off leading into the first round. However, this East Coast swing could serve as a statement string of games for the seven-footer.

His offensive play will be under the microscope in this next stretch of games but should not be cause to overreact. He just played in his first back-to-back set against Denver and this weekend offers another chance. We will see what the Thunder's plan is for Holmgren in Detroit and Milwaukee but the good news is: There are no back-to-backs come playoff time.

Prior to this injury, Holmgren showed a unique ability to get to the basket off the catch from the top of the key, draw fouls and pour in buckets averaging 18.2 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists and 3.8 stocks per game on 52/40/77 shooting splits in the Thunder's first nine games this season.

How close can Holmgren get to that mark before the regular season lets out? This week will be an interesting test to find out.

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