OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) 鈥� Chet Holmgren hasn鈥檛 quite been himself on offense during the .
The Oklahoma City Thunder's versatile 7-foot-1 forward averaged 18 points per game on 57% shooting from the field in the Western Conference finals against the Minnesota Timberwolves. Those totals have dropped to 11.3 points on 35.3% shooting against the Indiana Pacers.
In Game 6 of the finals, Holmgren scored just four points on 2-for-9 shooting . He acknowledged afterward that he鈥檒l need to improve in the decisive Game 7 on Sunday in Oklahoma City.
鈥淚 personally, myself, could be better trying to help us get things going in the right way,鈥� he said after Game 6.
Holmgren hasn't panicked. He said a balanced approach to handling difficult games has served him well throughout his career.
鈥淵ou can鈥檛 obsess over it to the point where it has a negative effect,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut you also can鈥檛 just completely detach from it to the point where you don鈥檛 care about it."
Holmgren has made just 11.8% of his 3-pointers against Indiana. He said he doesn't worry about numbers as much as he focuses on effort and mentality.
鈥淚 do everything I can 鈥� good or bad, win or loss 鈥� I do everything I can to be better and improve after each game,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 guarantee anything, but that鈥檚 kind of just the process that I鈥檝e always had.鈥�
Pacers coach Rick Carlisle knows Holmgren is capable of doing damage. Holmgren had 20 points and 10 rebounds in Game 4 and 14 points and 15 rebounds in Game 5.
鈥淗e is a great young player, and he has had a lot of stretches where we have not dealt with him well,鈥� Carlisle said.
Bouncing back from a few bad games is nothing compared with recovering from a foot injury that cost him his entire first season in 2022-23 and a pelvic injury that cost him 50 games this season.
鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 say I enjoyed the injuries, but other than that, I鈥檝e pretty much enjoyed the whole ride,鈥� Holmgren said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a beautiful thing, the easy parts, the hard parts, good parts, the bad parts, it鈥檚 all part of it. I would say I enjoy it all.鈥�
After all that, he鈥檚 one win from an in his second season of action. He is thankful to be in this position given how his season started. He鈥檚 trying not to overthink the situation heading into Game 7.
鈥淵ou have to take the emotions out of it, even though it鈥檚 everything you dreamed of, and you just have to try and do what you can to continue to prepare how you鈥檝e prepared all year," he said.
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AP NBA:
Cliff Brunt, The Associated Press
