Chet Holmgren vows Thunder must be better on boards after Pacers won Game 1 rebound battle
Chet Holmgren vows Thunder must be better on boards after Pacers won Game 1 rebound battle
For the next two days, all criticisms for the Oklahoma City Thunder's 111-110 Game 1 loss to the Indiana Pacers will be magnified on Jalen Williams and Chet Holmgren. It was death by a thousand papercuts that put the title favorite in an early 0-1 series deficit in the 2025 NBA Finals.
But put it plain, it's difficult to win a playoff game when two of your three best players struggle. At least Williams had his moments. On the other hand, Holmgren disappeared into the background. The Thunder went with a single center to start. Isaiah Hartenstein was benched in favor of Cason Wallace. By the end, they abandoned that, too.
Holmgren finished with six points on 2-of-9 shooting and six rebounds. He shot 0-of-1 from 3 and went 2-of-2 on free throws. He also had a block.
As the game progressed, you saw less of Holmgren. He only logged 24 minutes and played just four minutes of a close fourth quarter. The Pacers' outside shooting pulled the seven-footer outside of the paint. The Thunder had to concede and play mostly small-ball in the final moments.
Questions arose about Hartenstein's playability against the Pacers. Very different circumstances, but he struggled against mostly the same roster on the New York Knicks. Funny how sports can turn out, as he was more effective than Holmgren in Game 1.
The Thunder will need Holmgren to play better. They were killed on the boards by a 56-39 disadvantage. That allowed the Pacers to overcome the shot-attempt difference slowly. The 23-year-old has to play better on both ends or risk being unplayable.
"Obviously, we could be better on the glass. That stood out to me, too, at first. They did have more offensive rebounds than we did. We forced a lot of turnovers and got a lot of steals. There's no rebound opportunity on plays like that 'cause they're not even getting a shot up," Holmgren said. "I guess that stat doesn't tell the whole story. But we can still continue to be better on that end in that area."
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