When Oklahoma City Thunder big man Chet Holmgren broke into the league in 2023, after missing his first season due to injury, he was wiry and had plenty of room to grow physically.
Now in his third season, Holmgren certainly isn’t the most physically imposing 7-footer, but he continues to hold his own defensively — even against players who outweigh him significantly.
Holmgren is looking to continue to show his growth on both ends of the floor when the Thunder take on the Atlanta Hawks on Monday in Oklahoma City.
“He’s an impressive player for that reason,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Holmgren after battling Philadelphia’s Andre Drummond on the interior in Oklahoma City’s 129-104 home win over the 76ers on Sunday. “His first season he played all five at 200 pounds or whatever it was. That’s a hard position to play at 200 pounds but because of his competitive instincts, his toughness, his mentality and then, obviously, great talent and skill that puts him in position to do that. …
“At the core, the guy’s just a winning, tough player and it’s exhibited with the way he can hold his own at that position when we shift him there.”
The Thunder have largely used a two-big lineup for the last two seasons with Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein occupying the middle.
Hartenstein has missed eight of the last 13 games due to injury, though, and left Sunday’s game late in the third quarter with an apparent right ankle injury.
If Hartenstein is out again Monday, Holmgren figures to be Oklahoma City’s primary center, especially with forward Jaylin Williams having missed the last six games due to right heel bursitis.
Holmgren had 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks in Sunday’s win.
Holmgren’s scoring output in that game was his second highest of the season, behind only the 31 points he scored in the Thunder’s 117-100 win over the Hawks on Oct. 25 in Atlanta.
The Hawks have dropped six consecutive games, the last five at home, including Saturday’s 128-125 loss to the New York Knicks.
While saying he didn’t believe in moral victories, Atlanta guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker said he felt like Saturday’s game was “a step in the right direction.”
Three of the Hawks’ losses during their current streak have come by three or fewer points.
“We have to remember that there are 49 games left and our mindset for the rest of this 49 is important,” Alexander-Walker said, “and if we continue to have the same mentality as we did (Saturday), then I think more times than not we’ll find a way to win.
“We’re growing.”
But Atlanta could be very short-handed.
Leading scorer Jalen Johnson (23.7 points per game) is out with an illness while four-time All-Star Trae Young is questionable with a right quad contusion in his return to his home state.
Kristaps Porzingis, who hasn’t played since Dec. 5 due to illness, will be out once again for the Hawks, though he’s nearing a return. The team announced Sunday that Porzingis would be upgraded to day-to-day after Monday’s matchup.
