In their final game before the All-Star break, the OKC Thunder squared off against the Minnesota Timberwolves in what ultimately proved to be a rather lackluster showing for the top seeds, as they lost by a final score of 116-101.
Playing through the back-end of a back-to-back, Oklahoma City appeared sluggish and fatigued on the court, allowing guys like Naz Reid and Jaden McDaniels to erupt on offense alongside star Anthony Edwards (combined for 71 points) while Oklahoma City struggled mightily to get Shai Gilgeous-Alexander any scoring help during an off-night (24 points on 6-for-21 shooting).
Unfortunately, this has been an ongoing theme for the Thunder throughout the 2024-25 campaign, as they sport one of the worst offensive punches in the league when their superstar cornerstone is taken out of the equation.
What's important to understand is that Mark Daigneault's roster has been at sub-full strength for the entirety of the season, which, naturally, has played a role in their underwhelming productivity on the more glamorous side of the ball.
Now, following All-Star Weekend, OKC has finally managed to see their health status improve. Several key players took full advantage of the break to prepare their bodies for these final 28 games.
Because of this, Sunday's rematch could prove to be a sign that their last outing against the Timberwolves was largely due to them not being 100 percent healthy. Holmgren, in particular, may be a crucial reminder of this, as he could go on to address a glaring schematic weakness that doomed them during their February 13 meet-up.
Chet Holmgren could add crucial scoring punch for OKC Thunder
In the last contest between the Wolves and Thunder, star big Chet Holmgren had only just recently gotten back from his nearly three-month-long injury-induced absence and looked rusty, especially on the offensive end where he was hesitant with his shot and clearly out of sorts while trying to build chemistry on the fly with big man Isaiah Hartenstein.
In turn, he wound up recording just 11 points on seven total attempts from the field.
What made his lethargic on-court appearance and underwhelming statistical production all the more noticeable was the fact that Oklahoma City wound up suffering mightily from their somewhat nonexistent scoring punch outside of SGA.
As a collective, the Thunder were reliant on others to buy a bucket, as they were leaning heavily on Gilgeous-Alexander who, with his scoring and distribution efforts, was directly responsible for 44 points on the night.
Now, granted, fellow All-Star Jalen Williams did manage to drop 20 points while shooting 47.1 percent from the floor, but it was evident that Oklahoma City was missing one more shot-creator and self-initiator to help counter the strong defensive play of Minnesota.
In theory, Holmgren should regularly be serving as that guy. Might we see him play such a role during Sunday's rematch?
Friday against the Jazz, it appeared that the big man was the most comfortable he'd been since coming back from injury, as he went on to drop 20 points on 46.7 percent shooting from the floor, with only two of his makes coming off of clean and simple set-ups from teammates.
With him self-proclaiming that his "swag" is back following Oklahoma City's 130-107 beatdown over Utah, expectations should be that Chet Holmgren will now see this resurgent level of offensive play flow right along into their upcoming rematch.