Oklahoma City Thunder's Chet Holmgren is ruled out for Thursday's matchup against the Washington Wizards, which is the second consecutive game he'll miss due to a sore back. The Thunder improved to 5-0 in Holmgren's absence in a 107-101 win against the Sacramento Kings, Oklahoma City's first home game since raising its championship banner on Opening Night.
Holmgren, who was active for the first leg of an away/home back-to-back starting against the Atlanta Hawks, played in the first four games of the season before joining an extended list of injuries for the Thunder. All-Star Jalen Williams and Isaiah Joe have yet to make their season debut. The same goes for Kenrich Williams (knee surgery) and rookie Nikola Topic, Oklahoma City's 2024 first-round pick, who missed the entire 2024-25 season due to a torn ACL.
Thunder forward Chet Holmgren was firing on all cylinders before his back flared up. Averaging 23.0 points on 56.9/41.7/85.7 percent splits, 10.3 rebounds, 1.3 blocks, and 1.3 steals, Holmgren has provided All-Star production. While it is a small sample size of only four games, it's an all-around improvement from the 15.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 2.8 blocks, and 1.0 steals per game he averaged in the first four games of last season.
The Thunder will look to stretch its undefeated start to 6-0 when it hosts the Wizards.
Isaiah Hartenstein on growth seen in Thunder's Chet Holmgren
After spending time together in the offseason, Thunder veteran Isaiah Hartenstein considers Chet Holmgren's growth. Hartenstein revealed the areas of Holmgren's game where he's seen development in the frontcourt during their first full season together under coach Mark Daigneault.
“His confidence, but also just playing through contact. I think that's where he's been a lot better in,” Hartenstein said. “I've been with him all summer, seen the work he put in with Drew Hanlen, and you're kind of just seeing it right now. You're seeing this confidence. You're seeing what he's been doing for our team, and he's also just healthy, too. I think those two big keys — his confidence and him being healthy — he's one of the best bigs in the league.”
After playing in only 10 regular-season games while Hartenstein recovered from a hand injury, Holmgren's hip injury forced him to miss 50 games in 2024-25 before the Thunder's championship run in last year's playoffs.
