The Oklahoma City Thunder have one of the highest-quality rosters in the Western Conference, but there's one thing that will not go away. Chet Holmgren, their second-best player on paper, keeps going quiet at the worst possible moments.

Holmgren has averaged only 11.3 points over four games of the Western Conference Finals, and his shooting has not improved in those four games. He hit eight points in Game 1, and then added 13 and 14 points in Games 2 and 3 before only dropping to 10 points on 3-of-8 shooting in Game 4.

He hasn't posted a game above 20 points in this series, and it goes back to Games 3-4 of the Lakers series.

Chet Holmgren’s playoff average, 11.3 PPG in this series, kind of lines up with his regular-season issues vs the Spurs, where his output slipped down to 10.5 PPG on 37.0% shooting, compared with his usual season average of 17.1 PPG.

That kind of offensive output from an All-NBA Third Team selection is simply not sustainable, especially with Jalen Williams and Ajay Mitchell both sidelined. The numbers are hard to ignore, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is not ignoring them.

Following the 103-82 loss in Game 4, speaking to reporters after Game 4, via Justin Martinez of The Oklahoman.

Gilgeous-Alexander said, "Chet is an easy target to find, so probably just finding him more in the dunker or when he's spacing. Just put him in better positions to use his strengths as an offensive talent. I don't know exactly what that looks like because I just got done playing. But watching film, we'll find ways, for sure."

The fact that the Thunder loaded up the offensive game in Game 4 on Gilgeous-Alexander as he loaded up the game on the offensive end, shooting just 6-of-15, is just an indicator of how heavily the Thunder are depending on him to appear in Game 5.

Holmgren's offensive struggles tell only part of the story from Game 4. It showed in his post-game comments that he was vulnerable to a bigger issue with their whole game approach with the Thunder.

Chet Holmgren Calls Out Thunder's Lack of Urgency After Game 4 Loss

The Spurs did not just beat the Thunder on Sunday night; they outworked them. Victor Wembanyama put up 33 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and three blocks as San Antonio controlled every aspect of the game in a 103-82 victory at Frost Bank Center, leveling the Western Conference Finals at 2-2.

Holmgren did not sidestep the issue in his postgame availability.

Speaking after the loss, he said, "They just played like their season was on the line and we didn't."

He pushed further on what went wrong offensively for Oklahoma City.

"The biggest thing is we can't rely on it being our best day to win basketball games," Holmgren said after Game 4. "We got to figure out how to do whatever the game calls for for us to win games. We didn't do it tonight."

Those words really hit when you look at the Thunder shooting just 33 percent from the field, and 6-of-33 from the 3-point arc.

The series is now tied, and Game 5 will return to Oklahoma City, and the Thunder need this urgency as they've described, something that starts with Holmgren himself.

Do you think Chet Holmgren can turn it around in Game 5? Comment down below and let us know.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta