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Michael C. Wright, ESPN Scribbler Staff Group
OKLAHOMA CITY — Chet Holmgren led a stifling defensive effort by the Oklahoma Town Thunder in their 105-93 victory Wednesday over the San Antonio Spurs. But soon after, the 22-year-old found himself downplaying the budding competition with Spurs’ 7-footer Victor Wembanyama.
When asked about the spectacle of the matchup with Wembanyama, who was unanimously named an NBA Rookie at the end of the season, Holmgren, the runner-up, attributed it all to the promotion.
“Because the NBA is a business and the league is built around players who play basketball,” Holmgren said. “It’s about getting people to come and watch the games. That’s one of the ways they do it: by advertising the players. I see it as just a form of advertising. It doesn’t change what our mission is. We’re trying to win the basketball games. The NBA will take care of the business around it.”
Holmgren definitely received commercial help on the court, although he faced the Spurs superstar only on a few occasions, going 2-for-3 with Wembanyama guarding for seven points.
Holmgren, meanwhile, limited San Antonio’s shooters to ten 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, their second most in a game since the team came to Oklahoma Town for the 2008-09 season. Six players (Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, Ousmane Dieng, Ajay Mitchell) had more than one steal, tying their most in a single trip since the franchise moved.
As a team, the Thunder accumulated 27 points from the Spurs’ 22 performances.
“Tonight we won on the defensive end,” Holmgren mentioned. “It wasn’t perfect offensively. I feel like we were very solid almost the entire game on the defensive end.”
Holmgren opened the night with a stop in Wembanyama and a loan from Jeremy Sochan at the first San Antonio property. Holmgren finished as the game’s second-leading scorer with 19 points, five rebounds and a few assists to go with two steals and a few blocks.
When Holmgren contested shots as a primary or assistant defender, San Antonio shot 2 of 12 from the floor. He served as the primary defender on only two of Wembanyama’s shots, both of which missed.
Wembanyama has struggled through his first four games, shooting 22 of 54 from the field with 15 total returns.
Wearing a white Nike tracksuit, Wembanyama laced up his size 20.5 sneakers and sat back to reflect on a night in which he recorded occupancy lows in things (6) and yard goals (1). He shook his head when asked if he received the photographs he sought every night.
“I’m not getting easy shots,” Wembanyama said. “I have to prepare much better. Of course, my shot feels good. Physically, I feel good. But I need to prepare much better and get the conditions to make those easy shots.”
Closer to the game, Popovich apologized to the media gathered at Paycom Center for saying goodbye to begin his postgame press conference. The mentor said that he had to deal with the team first. Popovich did not ask harsh questions.
“That’s a very good defensive team,” he mentioned. “They’re a playoff team that’s probably going very far in the playoffs. They’re a better team than us. But that’s beside the point. We’re trying to get to their level.”
Wembanyama addressed Popovich’s claim that San Antonio loses focus in games and said the team also “feels a little lost,” adding that “sometimes we become a little less solid. I think this is the problem more than commitment.”
He also talked about all the residual consideration that comes with facing Holmgren. Both players constantly try to divert the hubbub from the individual matchup to focus attention on the teams.
Is it laborious?
“It’s not,” Wembanyama mentioned, “because I don’t have a social media right now. I don’t follow it at all. So I don’t feel that. But every time I go up against a good player in that position, it’s a different guy.” of challenge because it is not the case for all teams, not all have a big player with an offensive mentality, so it is always a good challenge.
