Bouncing back from a tough individual performance and team result against an even more intimidating foe proved necessary for Chet Holmgren and the Oklahoma City Thunder, which gave up a season-worst 140 points to the Denver Nuggets in a 13-point loss on Monday night.

Of all the configurations seen across their 11 games together with the Thunder, it took Tuesday’s second-quarter lineup for the Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein pairing to look euphoric.

The Thunder's win against the Rockets marked only Chet Holmgren's eighth game since suffering a pelvic injury that forced him to miss nearly half of the 2024-25 campaign. Still, after Monday's win against the Rockets, Holmgren celebrated Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's 51-point performance as the Thunder remains atop the Western Conference standings.