{"id":11311,"date":"2025-02-08T09:12:39","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T15:12:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=11311"},"modified":"2025-02-08T09:12:39","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T15:12:39","slug":"okc-gets-even-better-with-the-return-of-chet-holmgrem-thunder-take-down-toronto-121-109","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?p=11311","title":{"rendered":"OKC gets even better with the return of Chet Holmgrem&#8230;&#8230;.Thunder take down Toronto 121-109"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_11312\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-11312\" style=\"width: 534px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/?attachment_id=11312\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11312\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11312 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AA1yDfAl.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"534\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AA1yDfAl.jpg 534w, https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/AA1yDfAl-300x169.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 534px) 100vw, 534px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-11312\" class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Feb 7, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) shoots beside Toronto Raptors forward Scottie Barnes (4) during the first quarter at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h3><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">Even with the best record in the Association, the OKC Thunder got even better last night as they defeated the Toronto Raptors 121-109 in the Paycom (18,203) on Reno Street.\u00a0 Yes, with the return of Chet Holmgrem from a broken hip wing, the Thunder are now a better basketball team.\u00a0 With Holmgrem sidelined with the injury, the best defensive team in the the NBA was great. N<\/span><\/strong><\/em><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">ow, with the added rim protector in Chet, they can put more pressure on opponents as his defensive pressure and shot blocking prowess of Holmgrem makes the post defense deadly for the other teams.\u00a0 Holmgrem had four blocks against Toronto, and his game will continue to improve as he racks up minutes in the next 32 games before the\u00a0 the playoffs later in 2025.\u00a0 OKC is the team to beat, not only in the Western Conference, but the Association as a whole.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<h3><\/h3>\n<h3><em><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">More later.<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/h3>\n<p>\u00a0<\/p>\n<h6><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">(Feature photo:\u00a0 Feb 7, 2025; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren (7) during introductions before the start of a game against the Toronto Raptors during the second half at Paycom Center. Mandatory Credit: Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images | Alonzo Adams-Imagn Images)<\/span><\/h6>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_11311\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"11311\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u00a0 \u00a0 Even with the best record in the Association, the OKC Thunder got even&#8230;<\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n<p id=\"pvc_stats_11311\" class=\"pvc_stats all  \" data-element-id=\"11311\" style=\"\"><i class=\"pvc-stats-icon medium\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><svg aria-hidden=\"true\" focusable=\"false\" data-prefix=\"far\" data-icon=\"chart-bar\" role=\"img\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" viewBox=\"0 0 512 512\" class=\"svg-inline--fa fa-chart-bar fa-w-16 fa-2x\"><path fill=\"currentColor\" d=\"M396.8 352h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V108.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v230.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm-192 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V140.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v198.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zm96 0h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8V204.8c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v134.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8zM496 400H48V80c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16H16C7.16 64 0 71.16 0 80v336c0 17.67 14.33 32 32 32h464c8.84 0 16-7.16 16-16v-16c0-8.84-7.16-16-16-16zm-387.2-48h22.4c6.4 0 12.8-6.4 12.8-12.8v-70.4c0-6.4-6.4-12.8-12.8-12.8h-22.4c-6.4 0-12.8 6.4-12.8 12.8v70.4c0 6.4 6.4 12.8 12.8 12.8z\" class=\"\"><\/path><\/svg><\/i> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"16\" height=\"16\" alt=\"Loading\" src=\"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/page-views-count\/ajax-loader-2x.gif\" border=0 \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"pvc_clear\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10,4,7,9],"tags":[1772,179,53,302],"class_list":["post-11311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-home","category-latest","category-nba","tag-chet-holmgren","tag-nba","tag-oklahoma-city-thunder","tag-toronto-raptors"],"a3_pvc":{"activated":true,"total_views":67,"today_views":0},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11311"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11316,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11311\/revisions\/11316"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fredsportsextra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}