A Big Night From Chet Holmgren Helped The Thunder Hold On Down The Stretch

Holmgren's big night showcased how great a scorer the young big man can be.

Mar 4, 2026; New York, New York, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren (7) is guarded by New York Knicks guard Jalen Brunson (11) during the second half at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

The Thunder’s star big man stepped up in a huge way. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder made a trip out to New York to play the Knicks for the second leg of an away back-to-back series. OKC got out to an early lead, but the game would be far from over. 

New York would take one out of the Thunder’s book and have a miraculous third-quarter performance by putting up 40 points in the quarter. This kept the Knicks in the game, but luckily, the Thunder were able to hold off New York and win their fourth game in a row. 

This close win was made possible mainly due to the play of Chet Holmgren. Holmgren came out of the gate on fire as he had 14 points in the opening quarter. This would continue through the duration of the first half, and Holmgren went into the half with 22 of the Thunder’s 50 points. 

The All-Star big would end this bout as the game’s leading scorer with 28 points. These points didn’t come from Holmgren going to work on the inside like he usually does, but instead, Holmgren found his shot from deep in this game. 

The 7-foot-1 forward was responsible for the most made threes in this contest, as he hit six of his 11 attempts from deep. This gave the Thunder a tremendous boost to start the game and gave them enough of a cushion to hang in this bout when things got tough. 

Holmgren got busy in other areas of the game as well, as he had a team-high eight rebounds and added two assists to his already impressive resume. He has always been reliable on the boards and a force in the paint, but the Thunder would love to see more of the offensive production he produced Wednesday night. 

Holmgren is having the most productive scoring season of his career, as he is currently averaging 17.1 points per game. This has helped OKC in an injury-filled season, and the Thunder hope this will continue to be the case. 

The big man is doing this efficiently, as he is currently ranked fourteenth in the NBA in field goal percentage, as he shoots 55.1% from the field on average. 

Instances like Wednesday night truly showcase how dangerous Holmgren can be as a scorer for the Thunder. If the young big can keep this up, OKC just might be more dangerous this postseason than they were last year.