What OKC’s Chet Holmgren said following NBA Finals Game 3 loss

An all-around team effort from the Indiana Pacers thwarted a big night for the Oklahoma City Thunder’s big three.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren and Jalen Williams combined for 70 points during Wednesday night’s Game 3 of the NBA Finals, though it wasn’t enough as Indiana took a 2-1 series lead with a 116-107 victory from Gainbridge Fieldhouse.

Holmgren came out of the gate strong, scoring 13 points to propel OKC to an eight-point advantage at the end of the first quarter. But the former Gonzaga standout scored seven points the rest of the way, as Bennedict Mathurin and Indiana’s deep bench proved to be overwhelming even for the league’s No. 1-rated defense. The Arizona product dropped a playoff career-high 27 points, including a flurry in the second quarter that flipped the flow of momentum toward the Pacers’ favor.

Holmgren still finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, becoming the first Gonzaga player to record a double-double in a Finals game since John Stockton (17 points, 12 assists) pulled off the feat during the 1997 championship series. His former college teammate on the other side, Andrew Nembhard, stepped up on both ends of the floor late to seal the deal for the Pacers, recording eight points on 3-of-5 shooting from the field and four rebounds in 33 minutes of action.

Holmgren discussed with the media after the game what went wrong for OKC and what he could do to improve for Game 4.

“I wouldn’t even say there’s a feeling of something being lacking. There’s a lot of areas we can clean up. Myself personally, everybody down the roster that got in tonight can look in the mirror and see where they can be better. Everybody who stepped out there can be better. And it starts with me. I gotta be better.”

“There’s a couple opportunities that we gave away on the inbounds. You could look at every single breakdown and see an opportunity to be better. We got to understand that no games going to be perfect. Next game is not going to be perfect. But we have to watch a film and see what we can do to put ourselves in a better position to win the game.”

“I think I was playing aggressive. But I kind of got more to two feet when I got in the painted area, and then the plays that didn’t go my way, I felt like I got a little sped up at times. And I got a little bit out of control in the paint which is, again, another one of the areas where I need to clean up and be better for the next game. And I think there’s more than just that. I gotta watch the film and improve.”

“I wouldn’t say that now is the time for emotions to be thinking about how you’re feeling. Emotional this, emotional that; you kind of have to cut that out and just kind of look at the substance of what it is. We have a great opportunity here. And the great thing is, we have another game coming up, Game 4, so we can’t be thinking about frustration or anything. No matter how good it’s going, how bad it’s going, the focus can’t be on your emotions. Has to be on what we’re trying to accomplish, task at hand.”

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