Kenny Smith points to Holmgren’s 2-point Lakers clampdown
kenny smith has a clean number to point to after Tuesday night's semifinal opener: Chet Holmgren held the Lakers to two points on 1-of-9 shooting when he was the primary contesting defender. The Thunder big kept adding to a playoff run that is already forcing his defense into the same conversation as the NBA's biggest interior disruptors.
Holmgren’s Tuesday clampdown
Holmgren's impact showed up in the tightest part of the floor. When the Lakers attacked with him as the primary contesting defender, they came away with two points and a 1-of-9 line, a sequence that turned one matchup inside the game into a dead end.
He has done more than win one possession battle. Through five postseason games, the 24-year-old has averaged 18.6 points, 9.2 boards, 1.2 steals and 2.2 blocks while shooting 57.4 percent from the floor and 45.0 percent from deep. Those numbers sit well above the 17.1 points, 1.9 blocks and 36.2 percent shooting he posted in 2025-26 before the playoffs.
Victor Wembanyama comparison
The reason Holmgren is getting measured so closely is simple. Victor Wembanyama has become the league's standard for the all-around seven-foot-plus big, and Holmgren is now producing at a level that puts him in the same lane on defense. He ranks third in contested shots with 11.6, just 0.2 shy of Wembanyama.
That gap is small enough to keep the comparison alive, but Holmgren has to keep backing it up one game at a time. He is averaging 3.4 stocks per night and holding opponents to 44.3 percent shooting from the floor on defense, a profile that gives Oklahoma City a front-line answer that travels from one playoff round to the next.
Thunder’s playoff standard
Holmgren already has an All-Star nod and an NBA Championship on his resume, and this run is adding a different layer to that record. The Thunder are not asking him to be a volume scorer every night; they need the two-way impact that showed up Tuesday, when his contesting changed the Lakers' options around the rim and on the perimeter.
If he keeps that level through the rest of the postseason, the comparison to Wembanyama will not be about style alone. It will be about production, efficiency and the kind of defensive ceiling Oklahoma City can lean on when the games tighten.
