Thunder's Chet Holmgren downplays tweaked ankle with cryptic Game 5 update
The post Thunder's Chet Holmgren downplays tweaked ankle with cryptic Game 5 update appeared first on ClutchPoints.
OKLAHOMA CITY — How Oklahoma City Thunder forward Chet Holmgren's body responds in the opening frame of Game 5 will be the actual test in finding out his condition against the Indiana Pacers in the NBA Finals. Holmgren, who tweaked his ankle at least twice in the Thunder's 111-104 win that evened the series, 2-2, downplayed the severity of both as he was able to close out Game 4.
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Will the potential ankle sprains plague Holmgren's performance in a critical Game 5 of an NBA Finals that's now a best-of-3 series against the Pacers? Holmgren took a long pause before providing a health update.
'I feel like I've gone through a playoff run, but it's not over. So, feeling really doesn't matter,' Holmgren said. 'Nobody feels great right now. Everybody's feeling something. Everybody's hit somewhere. Everybody's sore somewhere. So, it's really irrelevant.'
Holmgren could be in the worst condition of his career, and his answer would be the same. Similar to his media availability on Sunday, Chet gave a three-second pause before answering a reporter's inquiry about his condition heading into Game 5.
'Good,' Holmgren said. 'It's fine.'
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Thunder fans will soon find out how significant his tweaked ankle in Game 4 was.
Chet Holmgren dismisses tweaked ankle in Game 4
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images
For Thunder forward Chet Holmgren, there's no excuse not to give it his all amid the NBA Finals. The Thunder need Holmgren's defense and offensive production against the Pacers.
'When you see everybody else doing everything it takes to accomplish and maximize the potential we have as a group, it's hard not to follow along,' Holmgren said. 'And there really is no excuse not to do it because you see everybody else doing it. So, there's no excuse to say I didn't know how to recover right, because everyone in here is doing recovery after games on off days. I didn't know how to prepare for the game, the coaches are giving everything that you need. I didn't know how to work on our body. We have a great weight staff. There really is no excuse.'
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At this point in the 2024-25 campaign, there's no backing down for Holmgren.
'I wouldn't say there's ever a level of comfort at this point of the season. At this stage,' Holmgren said. 'You kind of have to play on edge every time you go out there. If you feel comfortable. Then, I don't know. It's probably not a good thing.'
The Thunder will look to take a 3-2 lead in Game 5 at the Paycom Center.
Related: Thunder's Mark Daigneault shuts down notion about SGA's support
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