Thunder have Holmgren's back -- in scuffle, and in wake of redemptive season opener — SkimNews
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- The Oklahoma City Thunder opened their season with a 116-104 road win over the Spurs in San Antonio, a night after Holmgren posted just four points and four rebounds in a Game 7 home loss to the same team.
- Chet Holmgren answered that dud with 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks while serving as the primary defender on Victor Wembanyama, who finished 1-of-13 from the floor.
- Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 32 points and called Holmgren "an All-NBA talent on both ends of the floor," saying "When he's himself, your team is better" and "He changes everything for us."
- De'Aaron Fox drew a flagrant 1 foul after grabbing Holmgren by the shoulders from behind and tossing him to the floor mid-post-up, prompting a bench-clearing confrontation.
- Jalen, Jaylin and Kenrich Williams each picked up a technical in the ensuing scrum — with Wembanyama drawing the fourth — and Jalen noted it was "the first ever Williams, Williams, Williams T'd up," costing him $2,500.
- Fox dismissed Holmgren's reaction as embellishment: "If somebody grabs you like that and you go flying on the floor like that, you've got other problems to worry about."
Why it matters: Holmgren bounced back from his four-point, four-rebound Game 7 flop against the same Spurs with 14/7/4, while the three bench Williamses each drawing a technical to defend him adds early physicality to a matchup already being framed as "the NBA's next great rivalry."
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