All eyes were on Oklahoma City Thunder’s new rookie Chet Holmgren as he made his summer league debut on Tuesday. His impressive introduction quickly made him the favorite for Rookie of the Year.
Holmgren’s Thunder is one of four teams competing in the three-day Salt Lake City Summer League. All 30 teams will also gather in Las Vegas for the main summer league event, which runs until July 17.
Check back for more Chet Holmgren updates as the summer league unfolds.
Tuesday 5 July vs Utah
Stat line: 23 PTS, 7 REB, 4 AST & 6 BLK
Holmgren dominated in his professional debut, scoring 23 points and setting an NBA summer league record for blocks and 3s in a game. His first quarter performance had fans drooling as he put up 13 points, 3 blocks, 1 assist and shot 3-4 from deep in just 9 minutes.
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Wednesday 6 July vs Memphis
Stat line: 11 PTS, 12 REB, 3 AST & 2 BLK
Holmgren and the Thunder made it two wins in a row against the Memphis Grizzlies. The rookie had a solid outing, posting a double-double. Most of the talk however was about his matchup against former Team USA teammate Kenny Lofton Jr. The undrafted power forward took it straight to Holmgren on several occasions and finished with 19 points.
The rookie admitted in his post-game interview that he was still getting his lungs back after such a long break from the end of college. There’s a good chance that he rests for most or all of Thursday’s matchup against the Philadelphia 76ers.
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Saturday 9 July vs Houston
Stat line: 12 PTS, 8 REB & 4 BLK
It was a block party in Sin City as Chet Holmgren made his Vegas summer league debut against the Rockets. He matched up against third overall pick Jabari Smith Jr who notched 12 points, 9 rebounds and 3 blocks. Holmgren tallied 4 blocks on the night including 3 in quick succession.
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Monday July 11 vs Orlando
Stat line: 16 PTS, 10 REB & 2 BLK
Fans may have missed out on seeing Holmgren go up against first overall pick Paolo Banchero but were still treated to quite the show. The rookie led the Thunder with a +/- of 15 and shot an efficient 7-10 from the field including 2-4 from deep.
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Wednesday July 13 vs Sacramento
Stat line: 8 PTS, 5 REB & 5 STL
He may not have scored a bunch of points and Josh Giddey was rested but Holmgren still broke a record as he disrupted the Kings offense and tallied 5 steals. Holmgren’s huge wingspan made it easy for him to clog the passing lanes and get the Thunder running on the break. Sacramento rookie and fourth overall pick Keegan Murray stole the show as he put up 29 points, 7 rebounds and 4 steals.
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