The Oklahoma City Thunder enter Game 4 of the Western Conference finals with a 2-1 series lead over the San Antonio Spurs, but for Chet Holmgren, the focus remains on the habits that helped Oklahoma City respond after a difficult start in Friday’s 123-108 comeback victory.
Speaking after practice on Saturday, Holmgren pointed repeatedly to trust, depth and collective competitiveness as the reasons the Thunder have handled playoff adversity, including erasing a 15-point deficit in Game 3 after San Antonio opened on a historic 15-0 run.
“We trust everybody,” Holmgren said when discussing Oklahoma City’s ability to keep a deep playoff rotation while many teams shorten theirs in the postseason.
“It’s never an advantage relative to the opponent. It’s more an expression of our strength. We have a deep team. We have a lot of guys that we trust.”
The Thunder’s depth was central in Game 3. Oklahoma City’s bench outscored San Antonio 76-23, with Alex Caruso scoring 17 points and rookie Jared McCain adding 12. Oklahoma City also played without Jalen Williams, who sat because of left hamstring soreness.
Holmgren explained that the Thunder’s approach is tied directly to how they want to play.
“We play with a lot of pressure. We provide a lot of help which puts us in longer closeouts. We want to be a great transition defense team. We want to be fast into our actions, fast in the actions themselves,” Holmgren said.
“Everything we want to do that gives you the best chance to win requires energy.”
The Thunder center also emphasized that Oklahoma City’s confidence grows from teammates trusting one another in difficult moments, particularly in hostile playoff environments.
“When you have a trust that your teammate is fearless and leans into the competition it makes you more emboldened to do the same,” Holmgren said.
“When you have a group of guys that all do that, the energy kind of bounces off one another.”
Holmgren said that mindset mattered in Friday’s win, especially after the Spurs controlled the opening minutes behind returns from De’Aaron Fox and rookie Dylan Harper.
“It’s especially important on the road because all you have is your huddle,” Holmgren said. “There’s something beautiful about that.”
“If that huddle is filled with people that are confident and competitive then there’s an energy to that.”
Holmgren also rejected the idea that playoff composure suddenly appears with experience, saying Oklahoma City’s poise has been built over years.
“We’ve always had a pretty uncommon poise and confidence even before we were a playoff team,” Holmgren said.
“These are guys that have been here four or five years now in some cases and their execution level is high. Their habits are really tight.”
With Game 4 scheduled for Sunday in San Antonio, Holmgren said the Thunder are not viewing the series through a big-picture lens despite facing another 60-win opponent.
“I’m not overly reflective in the middle of it mainly because of the challenge,” Holmgren said.
“There’s two 60-win teams playing each other. Sixty wins in the NBA is hard to do. When you square off it’s going to be really challenging.”
For Oklahoma City, Holmgren’s message before Game 4 was consistent: trust the system, trust the depth and prepare for another difficult road test.
