SAN ANTONIO — The scrap early in the second quarter of Tuesday night’s season opener offered some symbolism for Chet Holmgren and his Oklahoma City Thunder teammates.
Holmgren landed with a thud. As he got back to his feet, his teammates had his back.
That’s how Holmgren’s offseason went after his meek exit against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference finals, which ended with a four-point, four-rebound dud from the All-NBA power forward/center in a Game 7 home loss. Holmgren opened this season with a strong performance in a 116-104 win over the Spurs, recording 14 points, seven rebounds and four blocks and serving as the primary defender against Wembanyama, who struggled offensively, finishing 1-of-13 from the floor.
"Chet is an All-NBA talent on both ends of the floor," said Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who scored 32 points. "When he’s himself, your team is better. It’s as simple as that. When he’s aggressive, when he’s confident, when he’s out there playing his game, he makes your basketball team better. It’s no coincidence: He played better; we had a good night tonight. The box score doesn’t show everything he does out there. He changes everything for us."
Holmgren’s support from his teammates was displayed by their reaction to a flagrant foul 1 by Spurs guard De’Aaron Fox that left the lanky 7-footer sprawled on the floor in the middle of the paint. The other Thunder players on the floor converged to confront Fox. Four technical fouls were assessed after a review — one on Wembanyama and one to each Williams on Oklahoma City’s roster (Jaylin, Jalen and Kenrich).
"I’m going to get up and keep hooping, but I appreciate my teammates having my back," Holmgren said. "I’m not necessarily sure how exactly we get three techs for reactions to something else. I don’t totally understand that."
"But at the end of the day, I feel like anything that you’re not willing to reciprocate is an advantage for the other team. So if they want to play physical, we have to match that, and the refs are going to do their job in keeping that within the guidelines."
As Holmgren was posting up, Fox grabbed him by the shoulders from behind and tossed him to the floor. Fox implied that Holmgren embellished to sell the foul.
"[If] somebody grabs you like that and you go flying on the floor like that, you’ve other problems to worry about," Fox said. "I didn’t throw him that hard, I promise you."
The Thunder considered Fox’s force on the play to be unnecessary and reacted accordingly, adding a bit of spice to what’s shaping up to be the NBA’s next great rivalry. Jaylin Williams was the first Thunder teammate to arrive on the scene, and he went face to chest with Wembanyama, who intervened on Fox’s behalf. Jalen Williams and Kenrich Williams got in the mix a split-second after.
"I didn’t really like the play," Jalen Williams said. "I just ran in there. If anybody’s ever been in a scuffle, there’s really not a lot of thinking to it. It’s just, make sure I have my guys back in there. In NBA scuffles, just grab whoever’s close and just push. Cost me $2,500, though."
"It’s the first ever Williams, Williams, Williams T’d up. Happy to be a part of it."
