Stiles Points: Chet Holmgren Shows Maturity In Return Game

Oklahoma City Thunder rising star Chet Holmgren was quick to say "It's not gonna be the Chet Holmgren show. This is the Thunder." following the Thunder's 121-109 win over the Raptors on Friday, but all eyes were on him throughout the night despite his best effort to be team-oriented. It was a Holmgren show marathon that is rivaled only by MTV's dire need to play Ridiculousness on a loop.

Holmgren couldn't help it and neither could observers. When the seven-footer splattered on the ground back on Nov. 10 against the Golden State Warriors before being peeled off the court with Jaylin Williams and Isaiah Hartenstein whisking him away to the locker room, no one would've guessed his first game back from a hip fracture would be Feb. 7 against the Toronto Raptors.

The rising star beat the 3-for-5 week re-evaluation window with the way his body responded to his constant attacking of the rehab process, a rehab that has become all too familiar to the 22-year-old coming off a second major injury in his NBA career.

When Holmgren jogged onto the court, the early-arriving Paycom Center crowd cheered. When he hopped around and began to warm up fans watched with bated breath. When Holmgren finally started shooting 50 minutes before tip-off, everyone pulled out their phones and began to gawk at the Former No. 2 overall pick. When he jaunted off the floor? You guessed it, another ovation. When the public address announcer shouted his name first in the starting lineup introduction? the Paycom Center nearly caved in on itself.

Every move he made, every step was met with eyeballs and enthusiasm from onlookers. Though, Holmgren showed a unique ability to block out the noise and rise above it, continuing to play like a seven-foot robot that Sam Presti and Mark Daigneault designed in a lab for this roster. After all, this is not new to him. While he is young in years, he is a grizzled veteran in the attention department, under a microscope since he was a 16-year-old.

"I thought he showed great maturity. He did exactly what we asked him to do, in terms of merging onto the highway. It showed a great respect for the team, the team has played in a lot of games without him, had a lot of success and he came out there tonight and just blended right into what we were doing. Didn't try to assert himself. We know he is a great player because of his history, but tonight he showed he was a great teammate," Head coach Mark Daigneault said following the game.

The Thunder bench boss is right, while he has enough cliches to fill a jukebox with his hits, this wasn't coach speak. Holmgren showed a unique ability to fit in and didn't wear the burden of proof tonight.

It would've been easy to. The Thunder climbed to a 40-9 record with him playing in just 10 games - one of which he only logged six minutes in - and for a guy who has been questioned his entire life due to his frame and fielded durability concerns before he even suffered a single injury in his life, it is hard to resist a silence the critics contest in his first game back from an unprecedented injury.

While his point column wasn't loud against Toronto, his impact was. Holmgren logged four points, five rebounds, an assist, two steals and a jaw-dropping four blocks. He deterred shots with a glance and had swagger-filled swats that left opponents scurrying away from the rim with their tails tucked between their legs.

Sure, it wasn't a perfect night or even close to the apex of his talent- level, which flashed All-NBA and All-defensive potential prior to the injury, but is was a great starting point.

"It ties a bow on his return to play, his return to performance isn't over. It takes a while for a guy who has been out that long, with a lower-body injury, to get himself back to game shape, conditioning and rhythm," Daigneault pointed out.

Holmgren also made life easier on his teammates, his shooting gravity pulled defenders away from the paint to free up lanes for Jalen Williams, his anchoring of the defense allowed for his guards to gamble for steals and gave Daigneault different lineups to deploy that created mismatches in favor of Oklahoma City.

“It was great. It was weird too. But it was definitely great. I played the three, too, which was weird," Williams said after the game with a smile. "It was nice to play [small forward] it's pretty cool [to play a more natural position]."

That maturity Holmgren displayed will help make the process of integrating the Gonzaga product as seamless as possible. Tonight, it was a glimpse of what adding him to an already historically great squad can look like. Soon, it will be an appearance of 48 minutes of dominance for Oklahoma City as the rich get richer.

Stiles Points:

3 things to watch as Holmgren returns to the floor.
Daigneault explained the plan for Holmgren's return as the second night of a back-to-back looms.
Despite wanting to participate in the 3-point shooting contest at All-Star weekend, Isaiah Joe was once again snubbed.
Jalen Williams reflected on being tabbed an NBA All-Star.

Song of the Day: Ripple by Grateful Dead.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.