In the Oklahoma City Thunder's opening night 125-124 victory against the Houston Rockets in double overtime, we saw a reignited Chet Holmgren who looked like a total game-changer. If this trend continues for the majority of the regular season for number seven, the rest of the NBA would be right to feel downright terrified.
As The Athletic's Dave DuFour recently pointed out, Holmgren really wasn't playing at full strength for much of last season. DuFour noted that by the time Chet looked like his normal self again, Oklahoma City was playing in the NBA Finals.
"He started out the game 7-for-7," DuFour said. "Hit a shot that got called back, so really 8-for-8. His shot looks much quicker. He looks physically much better. And this is part of the reason why I've been calling on the Thunder, like, I think they can win 70 games this season. Because [Holmgren] just didn't play all that much last year ... And now he's coming into the season, he looks great."
Chet Holmgren looked fantastic in the Thunder's opener
We all saw the same thing on Tuesday night. As DuFour describes, Holmgren's mobility looked improved, and he looked sharper overall. If a breakout season is truly coming for the big man, that may be the worst news possible for any and all other contending teams around the association.
Against the Rockets, Chet put up 28 points and made 11 of his 17 shots from the floor. He was running the floor, moving quickly and intentionally in transition, going hard after offensive rebounds, and just looking a lot more effective than at most any point last season. Having this kind of performance in the first game of the season indicates that he's ready to make some kind of leap right now.
Should he keep this level of production up, it will assist the Thunder with spacing, help in switching situations, and provide Oklahoma City with one more reliable threat in multiple facets of the game. Holmgren hitting a consistent rhythm for the entire season would create even more nightmare matchups for other teams.
This opening night exhibit from Chet Holmgren gives Thunder fans a glimpse of what could end up being a big turning point for him. If he sustains this output for weeks and months down the road, Oklahoma City will simply become that much more unstoppable.