OKLAHOMA CITY — Oklahoma City Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault kept it 100% after Monday's win, including about starting forward Chet Holmgren's progress since his minor setback against the Atlanta Hawks. After missing Sunday's 146-132 win against the San Antonio Spurs due to a sprained left ankle, Holmgren returned to Daigneault's lineup for Monday's 137-128 victory against the Houston Rockets.
He finished with an 11/11 double-double, three assists, three blocks, and two steals in 30 minutes. After the game, Daigneault discussed the scope of the Thunder's evaluation of their starting power forward's recovery process.
“Chet's impactful. So, when he's out there, even if he doesn't have his A-game, he's still going to impact the game,” Daigneault said. “He's still coming back from a larger period of time off. So, we're not really evaluating his performance night to night. We're just trying to see an uptick week to week, and we have, and we will continue to because he's a really good player.”
The Thunder's win against the Rockets marked only Chet Holmgren's eighth game since suffering a pelvic injury that forced him to miss nearly half of the 2024-25 campaign. Still, after Monday's win against the Rockets, Holmgren celebrated Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 51-point performance as the Thunder remains atop the Western Conference standings.
Mark Daigneault addresses Thunder's double-big lineup
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault on the sideline against the Atlanta Hawks in the second quarter at State Farm Arena
Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Related Oklahoma City Thunder NewsArticle continues below
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault admits that his double-big lineup featuring Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein at the center is still a work in progress. While a non-displaced fracture in Hartenstein's left hand forced him to miss the beginning of the 2024-25 campaign, missing the opportunities to play alongside Holmgren, Daigneault's only had eight games to experiment with his revamped frontcourt.
After Monday's win, Daigneault addressed his new double-big lineup.
“We still haven't seen it in maybe its most optical form, which is against bigger teams that are like trying to play through your chest at the basket,” Daigneault said. “We've rolled it out every night because we need to learn about it, but it's mostly been on nights like tonight, where it's perimeter-oriented teams; those guys are in more closeouts. I think we're learning the limits of it to a degree. I also think we're learning where we can improve to a degree.
“We've improved; it's a lot smoother, probably than I would have expected only 10 games in or whatever. So, we're going to continue to work through it. It's also not going to be a distraction. We have other stuff to work on, and we have other lineups to run, but those guys have done a great job. They work collaboratively; they're very communicative, and that's why it's improving the way it is,” Daigneault concluded.
The Thunder face the Grizzlies on Wednesday.