OKC Thunder Needs to Trust Chet Holmgren in Must-Win Game

After leading for the entire opening game on Wednesday night, Oklahoma City was left shocked in the final seconds. Tyrese Haliburton did it again, drilling a pull-up jumper over Cason Wallace to give Indiana a Game 1 win on the road. This Thunder team dominated for three quarters and led by 15 in the final frame, but the Pacers found just enough to come back and stun the basketball world.

During that final two minute collapse, Oklahoma City was extra small on the court — and it killed them. Isaiah Hartenstein has seen limited minutes over the last few games, and he wasn’t on the floor to close. More alarmingly, though, was Chet Holmgren on the bench to close the game. By no means did Holmgren have a good game, but his impact is way too large for him to sit on the bench down the entire stretch.

Holmgren had his worst outing of the postseason, scoring just six points on 2-of-9 shooting. He still managed to grab six rebounds and finish with a +4 overall. Despite bad shooting, Oklahoma City still won his minutes. Even when Holmgren struggles, it's hard to leave a player like him on the bench for the last three minutes of the game.

In the fourth quarter, Holmgren played just four minutes, taking one total shot. Oklahoma City was already on the rails down the stretch, but going full-on small ball plagued this team late. Giving up multiple key rebounds allowed the Pacers to hang around and strike.

Game 2 will certainly be about bounce backs, specifically for Holmgren and Jalen Williams. But it should also be about trusting the players and strategies that were used to get to this spot. Even on bad shooting nights, Oklahoma City is still going to need something from Williams and Holmgren. It might just be that they need to play through their issues, and shoot out of a slump.

For Holmgren, the Thunder can make it easy. Whether the team goes back to a double-big lineup or not, putting Holmgren in pick-and-rolls or having him cut from the weakside could start him off with a few easy alley-oop conversions. Oklahoma City needs him to play well enough to earn closing minutes, because this team is simply better with him on the floor.