On Sunday afternoon, the Oklahoma City Thunder showed on national television why they’re arguably the favorite to win the 2025 Larry O’Brien trophy. The Thunder took on a Denver Nuggets team with a red-hot Nikola Jokic and demolished them with a dominant fourth quarter en route to a 127-103 victory — extending their lead over the second-place team in the West to 12 games.
As per usual, it was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander who did the heavy lifting for the Thunder, scoring 40 points and proving why he has a strong MVP case as well amid Jokic’s statistical dominance. But their Sunday triumph over the Nuggets showed just how far they’ve come in addressing one of their major weaknesses over the past few years. They won the rebounding battle convincingly, with Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein patrolling the paint with ease.
Holmgren, in particular, has been playing very well since returning from a hip injury that kept him out for multiple months. And in expressing just how healthy he is, Holmgren bantered with a Thunder beat reporter who isn’t 100 percent physically at the moment.
“Probably a little better than you my guy… I’m sorry again… I know you are powering through,” Holmgren told Andrew Schlecht of The Athletic.
I asked Chet how he’s feeling physically since his return from injury
His response:
“Probably a little better than you my guy… I’m sorry again… I know you are powering through” pic.twitter.com/M1VNvAfKkQ
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) March 10, 2025
For the non-Thunder fans, Schlecht himself said on X (formerly Twitter) that he suffered an ACL injury while playing football with his kids, even getting a nod of approval from Gilgeous-Alexander in the process. And indeed, Holmgren wasn’t exactly wrong in saying what he said, considering that he’s looking very spry the further he’s removed from his hip injury.
Since returning to action for the Thunder, Holmgren is averaging 13.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks per game in just 26.1 minutes per contest, with the team preferring to keep him fresh in preparation for the deep playoff run they intend to have.
Thunder boast embarrassment of riches during successful weekend
The Thunder were brazen this past Friday, resting all of their key guys as they hosted the Portland Trail Blazers. It wasn’t like the Blazers were one of the worst teams in the league; even then, the Thunder went out and dominated them with their second unit, with Aaron Wiggins popping off for 30 points and Jaylin Williams recording a triple-double.
This just shows how much depth the Thunder has and why many believe that they’re the favorite to win it all. They have the two-way depth to deal with every matchup, and having been hardened by their playoff heartbreak in 2024, they will now have the emotional capacity to deal with four difficult playoff matchups.
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