The Thunder were 8-1 and had their best start to a season in franchise history. They were ready to take on an important Western Conference game against the Golden State Warriors. However, the Thunder’s biggest fear came to reality when Chet Holmgren went to block Andrew Wiggins on a layup attempt in the first quarter he landed on his hip, was in a lot of pain, and never returned to the game. According to Shams Charania, Holmgren suffered a right iliac hip fracture, and a return-to-play protocol will be provided in 8 to 10 weeks. Thunder fans were devastated by this injury, and others thought the season for the Thunder could be over with. However, last night’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers, where SGA had a historic night, proves why the Thunder’s season isn’t over and why the Thunder need to rely on him more.
Thunder: Chet Holmgren suffered a right iliac hip fracture and a return to play protocol will be provided in 8 to 10 weeks. pic.twitter.com/ijma0D5zy5
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 11, 2024
While some counted out the Thunder with Holmgren’s injury, Jalen Williams saw it as another challenge for the team to overcome. However, today, we are going to look at SGA’s historic night against the Clippers and why the Thunder need to rely on him more than before with Holmgren’s injury.
Jalen Williams on trying to focus on the game after seeing Chet go down: “It’s tough. I don’t really know what his situation is right now but praying for him.”
JDub on small ball: he says it’s not the first time OKC has had to do it and he’s looking forward to the challenge.
— Brandon Rahbar (@BrandonRahbar) November 11, 2024
SGA’s Historic Night Proves Why The Thunder Need To Rely on Him More
SGA’s Historic Night Against the Clippers
Coming into the game with the Clippers, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander wasn’t scoring as much as he did in the past two seasons. In addition, people around the NBA didn’t know how the Thunder would look playing small ball and playing without Chet. While the Thunder might have just taken it as another challenge, others had concerns. However, the Thunder defeated the Clippers 134-128 and shut down some of those concerns. Shai had his best performance of the year in this game, scoring a career-high in points with 45 while being extremely efficient. He shot 13-21 from the field, 4-8 from three, and 15-16 from the free throw line. Furthermore, he became the first player in NBA history to score 45+ points, 9+ assists, 5+ steals, and 2+ blocks.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career-high 45 points in tonight’s 134-128 win over the Clippers and became the first player in NBA history to register 45+ points, 9+ assists, 5+ steals and 2+ blocks in a single game.
Per Thunder PR
— Rylan Stiles (@Rylan_Stiles) November 12, 2024
This was the first time this year that Shai was aggressive at finding his shots, and OKC will need more of this in the coming weeks without Holmgren. The Thunder and Mark Daigneault are about approaching every adversity and every obstacle as just another challenge for the team to take on. Similarly, they just want to keep stacking up on the days and building muscle as the year goes on with a 0-0 mentality every time they hit the court. Ultimately, Shai made a statement with his performance as they went through this stretch with Holmgren or any other center.
Why The Thunder Need to Rely More on SGA
With Holmgren and Williams taking big strides this year, Shai wasn’t shooting the ball as much; he was letting the game come to him more than he did the last two seasons and was allowing others on his team to succeed. However, with Holmgren’s injury, that will have to change, the Thunder will need to rely more on Shai’s scoring ability than they have to begin the season. The reason for this comes down to a couple of simple reasons. The first is outside of Shai; the Thunder only have one other person in Jalen who can consistently create offense for himself and others.
Even though the Thunder have one of the best rosters in the NBA and have a lot of talent, they only had three guys in Shai, Chet, and Jalen, who could constantly create offense for themselves and others. The likes of Lu Dort, Isaiah Joe, Aaron Wiggins, Alex Caruso, and Cason Wallace are important role players, but they aren’t shot-makers and can’t create their shots consistently enough. Since Holmgren got hurt, more pressure is on Shai and Jalen to be the primary ball handlers and shot creators. Shai will have more pressure to score the ball while still getting his teammates involved.
Teams Will Focus More on Shai
The final reason is teams will put even more focus on guarding Shai. When Holmgren was healthy, the Thunder always had at least two of Shai, Jalen, and Chet on the court at all times. Very rarely did the Thunder ever only have one of them on the court, and if they did, it was Shai. However, with Holmgren’s injury, there will be more stretches in the games where the Thunder only have one of their big three on the court. This will allow teams to put more of their defensive focus on stopping Shai than they were able to with Holmgren on the court.
Teams will throw more double teams on Shai and run more zone against the Thunder. This will put more pressure on Shai to not allow the Thunder to go through more cold stretches on offense. This means that Shai must be more aggressive in scoring through this stretch, as well as setting up his teammates more for open looks. Additionally, Shai will have to make sure that when he is on the court, they have a lead so that whenever he sits, it doesn’t put them in a deeper hole with less talent on the court. If Shai struggles and there are stretches where the Thunder are cold on offense, that will hurt them more and show up more with the injury to Holmgren.
The Last Word
Finally, even though SGA had a historic night and OKC is 1-0 since the injury to Holmgren, the pressure is now on Shai’s shoulders to carry more of an offensive load. Until Isaiah Hartenstein returns, they will need more of Shai’s help on the defensive end with rebounding and even covering bigs, considering the Thunder have no healthy centers. However, with how deep this team is, their head coach, and Shai’s track record, OKC fans should have no doubts that the Thunder can get through this stretch without Holmgren and keep their title hopes alive.
