On top of already having their playoff ticket punched and the top seed in the conference standings locked in, following Wednesday night's win over the Phoenix Suns, the OKC Thunder have now officially claimed home-court advantage throughout the entirety of what is hoped to be their upcoming title run.
Accomplishing such feats was something that seemed rather impossible to do at times. At least, earlier on in the campaign.
Right from the get-go, Oklahoma City was absolutely ravaged by injuries. From preseason blemishes with carry-over effects to multi-month injuries sustained during the first few weeks of action, Mark Daigneault's rotation has been absolutely decimated by health issues in 2024-25.
However, with only two games remaining on the regular season docket, the Thunder are as close to full strength as they've been all year, and following their blowout over Phoenix, one of their most notable wounded soldiers provided an update that's bound to excite the fanbase.
Thunder big provides exciting insight into health following back-to-back
Easily the biggest name to succumb to a chomp from the injury bug this year is sophomore stud Chet Holmgren, who made his way back to action in February after having missed three months due to a right iliac wing fracture
Since his return, the big man has been rather up-and-down with both his production and availability, as the time off clearly had an impact on his rhythm as a player.
Wednesday night marked just the second time since being medically cleared to head back to the hardwood that he's participated in a back-to-back, and, while he admitted that he's not exactly where he wants to be from a physical and endurance standpoint (though he noted that this is just because he's always striving to be better), he acknowledged that he's "definitely going in the right direction."
"That's probably the best I've felt on a back-to-back. This is only my second one, but it definitely felt a lot better than before. Definitely going in the right direction," Holmgren said.
This type of progress couldn't be coming at a more opportune time for both Holmgren and the Thunder as a whole, as the playoffs are roughly a week away, and they'll need their stud big to be playing at his best under the bright lights to have their best shot of taking home the Larry O'Brien Trophy once June rolls around.
If he can contribute 22 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists on a nightly basis during their upcoming playoff run (though, hopefully, with a bit more efficiency in the shooting department), the rest of the NBA is going to be in big trouble!