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The Oklahoma City Thunder cruised past the Utah Jazz in the team’s first game of the 2022 Summer League. The game ended with the Thunder winning 98-77.
The player of the game was Oklahoma City’s 2nd overall pick Chet Holmgren. Holmgren scored 23 points and had seven rebounds as well as a record-setting six blocks. In his first ever game in a Thunder jersey, Holmgren became the first player in summer league history to record at least five blocks and hit four 3-pointers, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“Being a high pick like that, there’s a lot of pressure coming in, and he handled it as good as he could’ve. It makes my job easy playing with someone like him. He can stretch the floor, finish at the rim. He protects me, he’s got my back on the defensive end, So love playing with him. It’s been one game, and the chemistry’s only getting stronger.” Josh Giddey said about Holmgren.
In a post game interview, Holmgren showed confidence in his abilities to be better in the future stating “Only six? That’s a record? Well I’m coming to break it again,” after learning that he set the record for blocks.
OKC Thunder chose Chet Holmgren and it paid off
While all eyes were on Holmgren, he was not the only rookie to have a stellar game for OKC. The Thunder’s 12th overall pick Jalen Williams (not to be confused with the 34th pick Jaylin Williams) scored 17 points on 73 percent from the field.
Last year’s Second Team All NBA Rookie Josh Giddey notched a double-double in the game scoring 14 points and dishing out 11 assists. Giddey also showed up defensively with both two blocks and two steals.
The 11th pick of the draft, Ousmane Dieng, struggled but still finished with 10 points and 4 rebounds. Dieng made one out of nine attempted shots from beyond the arc and shot four of 15 from the field.
With the performances from the rookies, many fans are looking forward to the future for the team. The OKC Thunder look to ride the momentum they’ve created in their upcoming matchup against the Memphis Grizzlies on Wednesday, July 6 at 6:00 p.m. CT.
