Whenever the Houston Rockets and the Oklahoma City Thunder get together, fireworks are all but guaranteed.
The days of Harden vs Westbrook are over, but the rivalry residue remains, and the matchups always seem to drag a little additional fire out of both fanbases.
With the teams playing back-to-back games against one another over a three days, the rivalry was renewed in memorable fashion, with OKC going 2-0, and earning its 40th and 41st wins of the season in the process.
Sunday in Houston was a tale of two halves. The Rockets kept it close in the first half, but behind dominant performances from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Chet Holmgren, OKC blew the Rockets out in the second half, eventually earning a 123-110 win. The same thing happened in the second game, with Houston playing OKC to a draw in the first half, only for the Thunder to win 112-95.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s heroics are an expectation at this point, but Holmgren’s performance over the two-game stretch was promising for OKC fans.
After his 29-point (19 of which came in the final quarter) performance over the weekend, Holmgren followed it up with another good performance on Tuesday night, posting a respectable 18-13-3 blocks performance.
Holmgren began to make an imprint early in the game, rejecting Houston guard Jalen Green at the rim twice in the early going, and chugging along at his typical pace on the offensive end. When it comes to a player like Holmgren, the stats aren’t always going to do him justice. He did about as good of a job as anyone has all season on Houston star Alperen Sengun, holding the Turkish Terror to his average in terms of points over the two games, and often forcing him and his fellow Rockets to pass out of the lane into threes due to his presence alone.
Holmgren’s presence as a shot blocker may come as a surprise to some on the national stage. He is known as the skilled, futuristic big who is too skinny to assert himself inside by most who don’t closely follow OKC. Those who watch the Thunder every game know, that while he struggles on the boards at times, he has already established himself as one of the most dominant rim protectors in the NBA.
Despite his lack of traditional big-man physicality, Holmgren made himself known down low as soon as the third quarter started. Holmgren threw down a monstrous two-handed, alley-oop slam over the top of Sengun before emphatically rejecting Jabari Smith Jr. a few plays later.
The two-game span from Holmgren paints the picture of the season for the rookie big man. His defense is already a certainty, and, at times, the offensive flashes are special. Most importantly, his fit with Gilgeous-Alexander is becoming more and more evident on both sides of the ball with each passing game.
Holmgren’s ridiculous defense and Gilgeous-Alexander’s explosive offense are the clear cornerstones of the next five to ten years in OKC, but it’s the fact that on any given game, either counterpart can be elite on the other end that truly makes it one of the most exciting duos in the NBA.
The two-pack against the Rockets perfectly encapsulated that point, but with these uncommon performances from Gilgeous-Alexander becoming the norm, it is time to shift the focus to the rapid development on the offensive end from Holmgren.
Houston and OKC are teams at different levels. OKC has shoved itself into the title picture, and Houston, while supremely talented, is still putting the pieces together. Regardless of opponent, Holmgren appears to be plowing through the rookie wall, and that takes the Thunder’s ceiling to a whole other level.
