Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder sent the warning shot to the San Antonio Spurs on the first play of the game.
The Spurs ran a simple action to get Victor Wembenyama the ball up in the air, but Holmgren came out of nowhere and swatted it away. Spurs forward Jeremy Sochan got the rebound and went up for the layup, but Holmgren emphatically sent it back for the second time.
That first play set the tone and OKC ran away from San Antonio, winning 105-93 and never really being in danger.
On what was an off night for the typically reliable Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren and Lu Dort took charge on the offensive end, scoring 19 and 20. Holmgren did so with a barrage of threes in the first half, going 3-3 from beyond the arc and getting the better of Wembenyama in what was and will continue to be a highly anticipated matchup.
Dort also did his damage from deep, going 6-8 from three-point range.
The performances from Holmgren and Dort will cover up what was a disappointing performance from Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, who went a combined 12-33 from the field. Wednesday’s game is yet another poor offensive game from OKC to start the season, but on the defensive end, the Thunder were dominant once more.
San Antonio shot only 41% from the field as a team and Wembenyama shot only five times all game. Part of the defense on Wembenyama was Holmgren, but the team defense of the Thunder was what limited him to only five attempts. Whenever he would try and spin into a shot, an OKC defender would come and poke the ball out. Whenever he would drive inside, Holmgren or another Thunder would be there to meet him before he could get into his jump.
OKC’s offense will have to come along if it wants to win a championship and it obviously will, but the level of defense that has been played by the Thunder early in this season can only be described as ridiculous.
Coming into Wednesday’s game, OKC sat atop the NBA in most defensive statistics and after holding another opponent to less than 100 points, I’m sure it will retain its place in those rankings.
Time will tell if the Thunder is truly one of the most dominant defenses in recent memory, but with Isaiah Hartenstein having yet to play and Alex Caruso still settling in, the odds are OKC’s defense gets better, not worse.
Great story 👏 👌🏽 👍🏽