Chet Holmgren is Searching For His Best Finals Performance in Game 7

With each minute that passes by, all 15 players on Oklahoma City’s young roster are gearing up for the biggest game of their entire lives. For some of them, it might remain the biggest game for as long as they live. There’s nothing quite like a Game 7 in the NBA Finals, and this Thunder team has a chance to raise its first banner in franchise history.

As it always goes with a young team in the playoffs, there have been peaks and valleys. Luckily for Oklahoma City, the highs have been much more common and forceful than the lows. Most players on this team have suffered through a slump at some point or another during the playoffs, and the Thunder has had to find a way to win through the individual struggles. Entering Game 7, though, Oklahoma City is still waiting on one of its best players to finally break out of a brutal shooting stretch.

Chet Holmgren has had some huge moments in the playoffs, and he rebounded admirably from a devastatingly serious injury at the beginning of the season. But through six games in the Finals, he just doesn’t look much like himself on the offensive end. 

Holmgren is shooting 35.3% from the floor and 11.8% from 3-points range in six Finals games. He’s still making his mark, averaging  11.3 points, 9.0 rebounds, and a block per game. The percentages are abysmal, though, and the misses have been bad. At times, it feels like Holmgren has forced the issue, taking contested shots and trying to score off the dribble. The truth is, though, Oklahoma City just needs him to be who he has been all season — he doesn’t need to do too much.

“You have to put yourself in the mental space to kind of fight that feeling that you get when you get fatigued and your body is telling you you're tired, this and that, and you just have to push through all that, Holmgren said ahead of the big game. “You know, just like you try to do all year long. 

“But there's been a lot of games to get to this point, a long playoff run, so you have to put all that to the back of your mind and focus on just making a play.”

If Holmgren gets hot from long range, it will change the game entirely for the Thunder. He’s a player that plays with emotion and can get the crowd involved early. 

No matter what, Holmgren will have a huge opportunity on the biggest stage possible to prove who he is as a player. He seems to always welcome those moments, and tonight will be the biggest test.