'Gotta start somewhere': Chet Holmgren reacts to Nikola Jokic, leads Thunder past Pistons
Halloween couldn’t wait.
From Milwaukee, Giannis Antetokounmpo faced the media as the Incredible Hulk. From inside the depths of the Paycom Center, Chet Holmgren’s postgame jacket and Michael Jackson’s Thriller wardrobe were almost identical.
And on the floor, Mark Daigneault’s Thunder did a fairly good impression of the team he’d warned folks out before tipoff.
Interior defense, rebounding. Both had been identifying traits for the Detroit Pistons through their 2-1 start entering Monday — Daigneault lauded them for both. Oklahoma City couldn’t say as much when it came to either aspect of the game through one week.
Then came Monday’s 124-112 win.
With Jaylin Williams and Kenrich Williams missing time, Daigneault has truly stretched himself to find solutions around the rim on both ends. Chet Holmgren can’t be the response to everything, after all. Not yet anyway.
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The Thunder found that out in the hardest way imaginable when the defending champion Denver Nuggets thumped them 128-95 in their home opener Sunday. Nikola Jokic on constant islands, Aaron Gordon abusing crossmatches, Michael Porter Jr. skying for effortless boards.
Jokic joked that Holmgren “needs to be a little bit fatter.”
Holmgren wouldn’t magically gain 30 pounds on the backend of a back-to-back.
“It’s hard to get fatter when you’re not fat,” Holmgren said Monday. “Gotta start somewhere I guess.”
He started by helping the Thunder dress up as a solid team defense Monday — one with methods that looked sustainable while Daigneault configures lineups.
OKC held Detroit to 35.5% shooting from the field and a measly 29% from inside the arc through the first half. And despite some improved touch to start the second half — and a wild one-hand alley-oop jam from stud rookie Ausar Thompson — Detroit withered behind its 38.1% shooting from 2.
Lu Dort and Cason Wallace took turns as the Boogeyman, spooking Cade Cunningham into his worst night of the year (17 points on 5-for-15 shooting with seven turnovers). His connection with 19-year-old man child Jalen Duren was mostly grounded. And Thompson, while often breathing different air from the rest of us above the rim, still only shot 50% at the rim.
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And the ever-skinny Holmgren? Save for his flurry of successive fouls in the third quarter, the rookie center felt heavy enough to add three blocks and help hold Duren to an inefficient eight points (36.4%) and seven boards.
Holmgren deflected any credit.
“Different matchups bring different challenges and different adjustments,” Holmgren said. “I feel like it’s not one person’s job to do one thing out there, it’s a collective effort from all five all night long. We were better as a team tonight at that.”
What Holmgren couldn’t help but pin on his teammates was their collective rebounding effort. Acknowledging that Holmgren or Ousmane Dieng or Olivier Sarr couldn’t seal Detroit’s frontcourt themselves.
“We couldn’t leave it to Chet and the bigs down there,” Josh Giddey said.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander tallied nine of them. Giddey snagged seven. Jalen Williams grabbed seven, too. And when Holmgren found himself alone with Duren, he wasn’t actually alone.
“One thing that was good carryover tonight from last night,” Daigneault began, “I thought there were plays last night with Jokic where the ball was in deep and we just didn’t do a good enough job of helping. We left them on an island, which isn’t the right way to play.”
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OKC’s three-headed snake took form
SGA shook off what was probably his worst shooting performance during his time as the franchise cornerstone to return to All-NBA form: 32 points, nine rebounds and four assists.
He also was perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line (for the whistle counters who’ve felt something was off).
There are pending All-Star bets — this year and beyond — on Jalen Williams. Holmgren is who he is, and has long been lauded as an eventual star. Perhaps sooner than that.
Through four games, Monday might’ve been the trio’s best collective showing yet.
Holmgren scored 14 points and continued his stellar shooting, now 10-for-16 on the season from 3. Holmgren made Duren regret any sort of deep drop each time he caught it, and likely would’ve piled on without foul trouble.
Williams continued to look the part of a secondary scorer, posting 19 points and six assists. Not to mention the two together in the pick-and-roll felt wildly efficient. Maybe they should link up for more of those.
Each showed their flashes. Williams with his length and thigh-slapping celebrations after end-of-clock buckets over Isaiah Stewart. Holmgren with his screw-you 3-pointers.
SGA will be SGA. But Holmgren and Williams still have room for huge leaps, and Monday might’ve foreshadowed what could be.
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Thunder tip-ins
SGA still has bounce. He elevated at the end of the third quarter for a poster dunk over two defenders. Unfortunately for Joe Harris — and luckily for Jaden Ivey, who rode his hip to the rim — the veteran sharpshooter caught most of it.
When asked how he was encouraged to emphasize a post presence and abuse his mismatches, Giddey tipped his hat to Chip Engelland, famed shooting coach and now Thunder assistant. He credited him for emphasizing his touch, and not just from outside.
Davis Bertans made his regular-season Thunder debut, making a 3-pointer, scoring six points and playing 13 minutes.
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Thunder vs. Pelicans
TIPOFF: 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at Paycom Center (Bally Sports Oklahoma, ESPN)
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC Thunder beat Pistons; Chet Holmgren responds to Nikola Jokic
