Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder snapped their two-game losing streak on Sunday. The Thunder defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 129-104 after suffering consecutive losses to the San Antonio Spurs. Holmgren led the team with his 29 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. The big man played an integral role in OKC’s 27th win of the 2024-25 NBA season.
Holmgren stepped up his game after center Isaiah Hartenstein got hurt. Hartenstein suffered an apparent ankle injury and headed straight to the locker room. He did not return to the game and only played 19 minutes with five points, three rebounds and three assists.
Following the game, Holmgren addressed the supporters’ mild worry following their three-game loss to the Spurs.
“No team’s ever perfect. We’ve seen adversity. We’re gonna see adversity in the future. We have to continue to respond the right way,” Holmgren said.
Chet Holmgren: “No team’s ever perfect. We’ve seen adversity. We’re gonna see adversity in the future. We have to continue to respond the right way.”
Chet says that just because the team knows they need to continue improving doesn’t mean the ceiling is falling in.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) December 28, 2025
Holmgren knows that the Thunder needs to fix things, even though they are the defending champions. The former Gonzaga star knows that the team has a lot to learn.
“Still a lot of areas to clean up and get better.”
OKC will play the second night of a back-to-back on Monday against the Atlanta Hawks.
Aaron Wiggins spoke highly of Chet Holmgren’s all-around performance
Chet Holmgren took charge of the game for the Thunder when they needed him the most. His teammate, Aaron Wiggins, had high praise for his all-around performance. During his postgame presser, Wiggins highlighted Holmgren’s presence on the defensive end, which was helpful for OKC’s win.
“When he’s at that kind of level defensively for us it makes us that much better on the defensive end and it allows for us to run a little bit more on the offensive end. So his dominance down there was good for us,” Wiggins said.
“He was a dominant defensive player first and foremost,” the head coach said. “He was great at the rim, great in the help great in the coverages. He really played at a high level on that end of the floor and that just changes our team when he’s in the mode.”
