Sitting out for a second straight game, Chet Holmgren has missed his first action of the 2025-26 regular season with lower back soreness. The 23-year-old previously played through the ailment in a win over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday.
Since then, Holmgren has missed back-to-back wins over the Sacramento Kings and Washington Wizards. In his place, Isaiah Hartenstein has played the starting center role, with Aaron Wiggins stepping up as the starter.
Holmgren wasn’t in the building in either home win. His next opportunity to play will be at home against the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday. By that point, he’d have six days between games. Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault kept his cards close when asked about his status in pregame on Thursday.
“He’s where he should be. We’re being conservative with him, but if he were obviously perfect, he’d play tonight,” Daigneault said. “But we’ll go through the process that we always go through. Just as a general practice, I don’t get a lot of detail with the return-to-play stuff.”
Holmgren has had an All-Star-esque start to his 2025-26 regular season. He’s averaged 23 points, 10.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks. He’s shot 41.7% from 3 on six attempts. As Jalen Williams continues to be sidelined with wrist surgery, he’s stepped up as OKC’s second-best player alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
The Thunder have enjoyed a cushy three-game homestand against the NBA’s bottom feeders. It’s afforded OKC the luxury to get off to a 6-0 start despite some scoring shakiness. They will need Holmgren to return sooner rather than later from his back soreness.
