Holmgren’s huge night

Oklahoma City didn’t just win again on Wednesday, April 8. It beat the Los Angeles Clippers 128-110, stretched its winning streak to seven games, and locked up the top seed in the Western Conference with the best overall record in the National Basketball Association. (oklahoman.com) The strangest part of the box score belonged to Chet Holmgren. The 7-foot-1 center finished with 30 points, 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 blocks and 3 made three-pointers, which is the kind of line that usually looks made up when you first read it. (oklahoman.com) That stat line tells you what Holmgren is in one night: a rim protector, a floor spacer, and a playmaker. Most big men give you one or two of those jobs, but Holmgren gave Oklahoma City all three against a Clippers team that needed the game for playoff positioning. (oklahoman.com) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander did not need 40 points to control this one. He had 20 points and 11 assists, which meant Oklahoma City got a star scorer’s gravity from Gilgeous-Alexander and a star big man’s finishing from Holmgren in the same game. (oklahoman.com) The seeding detail matters because this is now three straight seasons with Oklahoma City on top of the West. ESPN noted that only five other teams have put together a three-year streak of No. 1 seeds since the league adopted the 16-team playoff format in 1983-84, and those groups were the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers, Chicago Bulls, Lakers again, and Golden State Warriors. (espn.com) That list is basically a hallway of dynasties. Oklahoma City has not earned that label yet, but clinching the conference again at ages when Holmgren and Gilgeous-Alexander are still in their prime-building years is why the conversation has shifted from “Are the Thunder ahead of schedule?” to “Who in the West can actually beat them four times?” (espn.com, nytimes.com) The regular-season award race is pushing the same way. The Oklahoman argued on April 7 that Gilgeous-Alexander has effectively wrapped up the Most Valuable Player race, while Gilgeous-Alexander himself told reporters days earlier that he would let his game do the talking instead of campaigning. (oklahoman.com, espn.com) So the new question is not whether Oklahoma City had a great regular season. The new question is whether a team that just got 30-14-5-2-4 from Holmgren on the same night it clinched the West has another gear once the playoffs slow down and every possession starts to look like a half-court puzzle. (oklahoman.com, nytimes.com)