Chet Holmgren’s Efficiency is Picking Up for OKC Thunder

Oklahoma City’s rising big man is starting to find his form after returning from injury.

Mar 19, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) goes up for a basket as Philadelphia 76ers forward Oshae Brissett (22) defends during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images / Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City has been finding its form down the stretch, and even with an inconsistent nightly lineup, this team continues to dominate. Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, and a handful of other players have been in and out of the lineup with short term nagging injuries. This Thunder team is battle tested at this point in the season — small injuries and changes in the rotation doesn’t faze Oklahoma City.

Part of the reason the Thunder have developed an ability to adjust on the fly is because this team played without one of its star players for more than half the season. Chet Holmgren’s injury was devastating, but it taught the Thunder a lot about itself this season. This team is tough and has a serious next man up mentality.

Since Holmgren’s return, he has been focused on getting back to normal, and Oklahoma City has continued to rack up the wins. Some nights Holmgren looks like the injury never even happened, and some nights you can tell he’s still getting his feet under him. That’s to be expected and more than acceptable for a big man coming back from a serious injury like that, though.

Recently, Holmgren has been ultra efficient, and his stamina has been picking up on the court. There has been a noticeable difference over the last four games.

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Across that four-game time frame, Holmgren has averaged a 18.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in 30.1 minutes per game. He is shooting 56.5% from the floor and a red-hot 50% from 3-point range. Holmgren has had a true shooting percentage of 65.2% and is a +44 combined across the contests.

As Holmgren continues to become more and more comfortable, the Thunder will feel his impact. He is already developing chemistry with Isaiah Hartenstein, and both big men have taken turns throwing lobs to eachother.  

Above all else, though, Holmgren’s 3-point shot seems to be reappearing for the Thunder, which is the most important piece of the operation. His outside shot falling carries so much of the weight of Oklahoma City’s championship aspirations. For the double-big lineups to work, Holmgren must be a knockdown shooter like he has shown before.

Now that the Thunder can pick and choose rest games with the Western Conference locked up, there’s no pressure on Holmgren to play through any bumps and bruises. He has the rest of the season to get fully comfortable on the court and take a few breathers for the postseason. The past four games indicate he’s right back at full strength, though, which is a game changer for Oklahoma City.

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