Thunder's Chet Holmgren prevails over Spurs' Victor Wembanyama

OKLAHOMA CITY – Chet Holmgren led a stifling defensive performance for the Oklahoma City Thunder in their 105-93 win Wednesday against the San Antonio Spurs. But immediately afterwards, the 22-year-old downplayed his budding rivalry with Spurs' 7-footer Victor Wembanyama.

When asked about the spectacle of facing Wembanyama, who was unanimously named NBA rookie of the year last season, Holmgren, the runner-up, said it was all about promotion.

“Because the NBA is a business and the league is built on players playing basketball,” Holmgren said. “It's about getting people to watch the games. This is one of their methods: advertising for the players. I just see it as a form of advertising. It doesn't change our mission. We're trying to win the basketball games, the NBA will take care of it.”

Holmgren certainly took care of business on the pitch, although he only faced the Spurs star a couple of times, going 2v3 while Wembanyama defended seven points.

Holmgren, meanwhile, limited San Antonio's shooters to 10 points on 4 of 17 from the floor and 0 of 7 from deep as the primary defender.

The Thunder finished with 18 steals, nine in each half, the second-most in a game since the team came to Oklahoma City in the 2008-09 season. Six players (Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Ousmane Dieng, Ajay Mitchell) recorded multiple steals, marking the most steals in a game since the franchise transition.

As a team, the Thunder put up 27 points on 22 turnovers by the Spurs.

“We won on defense tonight,” Holmgren said. “On offense it wasn’t perfect. I feel like we were very solid defensively for most of the game.”

Holmgren opened the night with a block on Wembanyama and a steal on Jeremy Sochan on San Antonio's first possession. Holmgren finished the game as the game's second-leading scorer with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists as well as 2 steals and 2 blocks.

When Holmgren struggled for shots as a primary defender or assistant defender, San Antonio shot 2 for 12 from the floor. He was the primary defender on only two of Wembanyama's shots, both of which missed.

Wembanyama struggled in his first four games, shooting 22 of 54 from the field and totaling 15 turnovers.

Dressed in a white Nike tracksuit, Wembanyama laced up his size 20.5 shoes and sat down to reflect on a night in which he recorded career lows in points (6) and field goals (1). He shook his head when asked if he was getting the vaccinations he wanted every night.

“I don’t get easy shots,” Wembanyama said. “I have to prepare much better. Of course my punch feels good. Physically I feel good. But I have to prepare much better and create the conditions to have those easy shots.”

After the game, Popovich apologized to the media gathered at Paycom Center for taking so long to begin his postgame press conference. The coach said he had to address the team first. Popovich did not answer questions.

“This is a very good defensive team,” he said. “It's a playoff team that will most likely go very far into the playoffs. They are a better team than us. But that's beside the point. We try to reach their level.”

Addressing Popovich's claim that San Antonio is losing focus in games, Wembanyama said the team may feel “a little lost,” adding, “Sometimes we get a little less solid. I think that’s the problem rather than the commitment.”

He also spoke about the special attention that the game against Holmgren brings. Both players often try to take the hustle and bustle away from the individual game to focus attention on the teams.

Is it tiring?

“It’s not,” Wembanyama said, “because I don’t have a social network at the moment. I don't follow this at all. So I don't feel that. But every time I go up against a good player position, it's a different kind of challenge because it's not the case with every team. So it's always a good challenge.