Chet Holmgren and Thunder's young can't close out on Rockets Saturday

Two teams featuring some of the most potent young talents in pro basketball went at it Saturday in a 2-point Houston win

Holmgren, Giddey, Jalen Williams and Ousmane Dieng all posted double digits in scoring on Saturday, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Rockets (Photo courtesy of NBA.com)

Two all-West Coast Conference first team players weren’t enough for the Oklahoma City Thunder to overcome the Houston Rockets in a tightly contested game the first night in Las Vegas. Gonzaga alumni Chet Holmgren and former Santa Clara Bronco Jalen Williams were the two leading rookie scorers for the Thunder, but it wasn’t enough to outshine the Rockets in the end.

Conversations about Holmgren’s potential soared as soon as he dropped 23 points and recorded a Summer League record six blocks in the first game of Summer League this year in Utah. The narratives continued to spiral around the 7-foot-1 Minnesota native after Kenny Lofton Jr, a former teammate of Holmgren’s on Team USA’s U19 squad last summer, showed to be a physical mismatch at points when the Thunder took on the Memphis Grizzlies in game 2.

With a handful of first round picks from June’s draft on each the Thunder and the Rockets’ rosters for their opening round matchup in Vegas, Saturday’s game was put under a vicious microscope.

Highlights of Holmgren getting dunked on by Aric Holman, taking a nice underneath pass from Josh Giddey and flushing it at the rim, getting blocked by No. 3 overall pick Jabari Smith and then in turn blocking another promising prospect in Tari Eason were all over the internet. Accompanying them were takes ranging from Holmgren being way too weak to ever be impactful on a true NBA floor, to him being the greatest prospect the league has ever seen.

With 12 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals, Holmgren finished the game with a +5 rating and was a pivotal piece in general at deterring a number of shot attempts from the Rockets as Houston tried to claw its way back into the lead. In the game’s final minute however, the 29th pick in this year’s first round TyTy Washington hit a floater that arched over the outstretched arms of Holmgren and gave the Rockets a one point lead.

Holmgren was 3-for-10 from the field and missed his lone 3-point attempt, but was a perfect 6-for-6 from the free throw line. Even with the Summer League allowing for numerous more fouls to foul out, the rookie Holmgren only accrued one on Saturday despite being an eminent defense presence and played 29 minutes.

Santa Clara alumni Jalen Williams was the Thunder’s most reliable scorer on Saturday. Using a mix of baseline cuts and getting out deep in transition for a handful of slams, he and second year guard Josh Giddey were a tandem that looked fluid enough to work on an NBA regular season even now.

Williams dropped 15 points on 7-12 shooting while also grabbing five rebounds. The Thunder’s other first round product from this year’s draft, Ousmane Dieng, dropped 10 points on a rather unsteady 4-for-12. Oklahoma City’s last draft product in Jaylin Williams from Arkansas didn’t play.

The Rockets’ first selection from the draft, Auburn’s Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 points on 5-for-19 shooting with nine boards, but was an aggregate -4 in the +/- category. Eason, another first round selection who has been turning heads in summer leagues with his adept offense skillset, posted a 14 point, 10 rebound double-double on 50% shooting.