The Oklahoma City Thunder played dominant basketball to defeat the Denver Nuggets 102-87 at Ball Arena in Denver. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander put up an impressive 28 points, as usual. But it was Chet Holmgren who took everyone by surprise with a 25-point dagger against Nikola Jokic and Co.
Advertisement
It even earned him a shout-out from Kevin Garnett.
In an emoji-filled Instagram Story, KG applauded Holmgren, “Boy BIG CHET IS OUT HERE… holding his own… WE SEE YOU BIG FELLA”
Keep going big fella @chet_holmgren Respect,” Garnett wrote.
KG on Chet pic.twitter.com/YHzMl2NhBE
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) October 25, 2024
Garnett is always excitedly using his Instagram Stories to commend players. However, such enthusiastic Instagram praise can make it hard for his followers to gauge just how well the OKC center played.
Matching up against Nikola Jokic, the 22-year-old stuffed the stat sheet with 14 rebounds, and 5 assists to go with his 25 points, shooting 11-18 from the floor.
Jokic recorded a triple-double. But Holmgren managed to prevent the three-time MVP from going on a scoring outburst or having a major influence on the game. The two steals and four blocks that he recorded also enabled constant momentum changes, often hushing the energetic crowd at Ball Arena.
CHET HOLMGREN.
Blocks Jokic then dunks it.
— Hoop Central (@TheHoopCentral) October 25, 2024
Garnett has often expressed his faith in the young Oklahoma side. It won’t be surprising to see him continue to share such Instagram posts, motivating Mark Daigneault’s boys throughout the season.
KG is a huge supporter of the Thunder
The Thunder shocked several analysts and pundits by finishing the 2023-2024 season as the first seed of the Eastern Conference. But a lack of postseason experience and veterans on the squad resulted in a second-round playoff loss against the Dallas Mavericks.
Kevin Garnett was extremely motivated by their overall performance. While previewing the 2024-2025 campaign, the Hall of Famer honored the team with his classic “dog” remark.
“OKC got some dogs. They ain’t got no experience, but sh*t, I seen some little motherf****rs knock the big motherf****rs out just because he was a dog,” Garnett said.
View this post on Instagram
This season, SGA will be expected to have yet another MVP-like performance and Holmgren is likely to make the All-Star team. Backed by this dynamic one-two punch, the Thunder can find themselves #1 in the Western Conference standings once again.
Learnings from their previous postseason could prompt a deeper run in the 2025 playoffs, perhaps, even lifting the Larry O’Brien trophy.
