Oklahoma City Thunder youngster Chet Holmgren doesn’t have an imposing physique, but it doesn’t really matter; the star from the Gonzaga Bulldogs can impact the game in a variety of ways and he did exactly just that Wednesday night when he torched the stuffed the stat sheets with an incredible performance in a 119-107 home win against the Utah Jazz.
Chelt Holmgren Had A Night For The Oklahoma City Thunder In Win Vs. The Jazz
Holmgren, selected second overall in the 2022 NBA Draft by the Thunder, shot 12/18 from the field versus the Jazz. He only went 1/5 from behind the arc, but that’s just about the only bad thing about Holmgren’s night.
He took advantage of his combination of size, length, mobility, and range to keep the Jazz’s defense guessing and to repeatedly get to the foul line. Holmgren was 10/12 from the free-throw line to make up for his ugly 3-point shooting.
Via StatMuse:
Chet tonight:
35 PTS
14 REB
2 STL
3 BLK
The first rookie since Shaq to reach those numbers in a game.
And he did all that in only 31 minutes on the floor.
“Some shots didn’t fall from the outside, but we did a good job of not just saying ‘We’re a team that’s going to win when we make shots,’ ” said Holmgren after the game, per the Associated Press (h/t ESPN). “We found other ways to open up the game and pull away at the end.”
Holmgren wasn’t the only Thunder who had a huge outing. As usual, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander delivered for Oklahoma City, as he scored 31 points on 12/22 shooting with seven assists, three boards, and seven dimes plus four steals in 33 minutes of action.
The Thunder are going places this season in large part because of Holmgren’s brilliance and he could build on his last performance with another stellar showing when Oklahoma City takes on the lowly Toronto Raptors this Friday on the road.
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