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Thunder’s Chet Holmgren claps back at Aaron Gordon’s claim about Nikola Jokic

Originally posted on NBA on ClutchPoints | By Josue Pavon | Last updated May 9, 2025 6:22 PM ET

Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren responded to Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon’s take on his All-Star center Nikola Jokic getting constantly fouled throughout Game 2. After Wednesday’s 149-106 blowout win in Game 2, Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault revealed no changes to defending Jokic. However, the physicality between both teams remains present two games into their best-of-7 series.

Before Game 3, Holmgren addressed Gordon’s comments, suggesting that the Thunder is getting away with fouls not being called.

“I feel like when we’ve fouled, we’ve been called for fouls. When they foul, they’ve been called for fouls,” Holmgren said. “At the end of the day, I only have one point of view out there. I can’t see the whole play, every play, all play. So, I can’t really speak towards what’s happening on every single play. I feel like it’s a physical game of basketball. That’s what the playoffs is. We just have to come out and be ready for that.”

After losing Game 2, Aaron Gordon claimed the Thunder made illegal defensive stops, per DNVR Nuggets’ Brendan Vogt.

“All types of stuff they’re doing to him that’s not necessarily legal,” Gordon said. “There’s not much you can do… Jok will play through it (but) they’re fouling the guy.”

“They’re calling the second foul every time. They’re fouling Jokic first,” Gordon concluded.

Jokic was ejected with just over a minute left in the third quarter when he picked up his sixth foul before the final frame of Wednesday’s 43-point win for Chet Holmgren and the Thunder.

Mark Daigneault on ‘familiarity’ to defending Nikola Jokic, Nuggets

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic (15) reacts after a play against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half during game two of the second round for the 2025 NBA Playoffs at Paycom Center Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault has experience in defending Nuggets’ Nikola Jokic. After the Thunder poorly executed Daigneault’s game plan in Game 1, he saw vast changes to his team’s approach in Game 2.

Daigneault says it made all the difference in disrupting the league’s reigning MVP.

“We were just a little sharper. There’s a familiarity thing in the first game of a playoff series when you’re introducing yourself to the opponent, vice versa,” Daigneault said. “We rolled out the same plan. We didn’t change a thing tonight. All we did was learn from the first game how we can execute better. There are some adjustments we can pivot to that we feel like we can go to at this point. But we wanted to see how this plan worked first, and I thought we were a lot sharper.”

The Thunder will look to grab a 2-1 lead in Game 3 on Friday.

This article first appeared on NBA on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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