Chet Holmgren will not have to wait very long into the Oklahoma City Thunder‘s next season to confront the team responsible for his most painful NBA exit.
The Thunder will visit the San Antonio Spurs on Oct. 20 at 9:30 p.m. ET on Opening Night, according to the NBA’s newly released early-season schedule. It will be a Western Conference finals rematch, and for Holmgren in particular, an immediate chance to begin rewriting one of the roughest stretches of his young career.
San Antonio eliminated Oklahoma City 111-103 in Game 7 of the 2026 Western Conference finals. Holmgren finished that elimination game with just four points and four rebounds while attempting only two shots in 33 minutes. The performance generated significant criticism afterward, with the Associated Press noting that Holmgren “absorbed plenty of shots from critics” following the loss.
Now his first meaningful game after that ending comes in San Antonio.
That’s about as direct a redemption opportunity as the NBA schedule could have delivered.
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NBA Schedule: Chet Holmgren Has Something to Prove Against Spurs
Game 7 was the low point, but Holmgren’s problems against San Antonio extended beyond a single night.
He averaged 10.7 points, 7.1 rebounds and 1.1 blocks over seven games in the Western Conference finals. That represented a steep offensive drop from a regular season in which Holmgren averaged career highs of 17.1 points and 8.9 rebounds while earning his first All-Star selection and finishing second in Defensive Player of the Year voting.
His matchup with Victor Wembanyama only magnified the contrast.
Wembanyama opened the series with 41 points and 24 rebounds in San Antonio’s double-overtime Game 1 victory. Holmgren scored eight.
By Game 7, Holmgren’s reluctance to shoot became a storyline of its own. Thunder fans repeatedly zeroed in on his two attempts after the elimination, with one highly discussed post in the team’s Reddit community contrasting his 17-point regular-season scoring average with his dramatic drop against San Antonio.
That doesn’t mean Oct. 20 can erase a seven-game playoff series.
It does mean Holmgren gets his first opportunity to show that the experience changed something.
Thunder Made Their Position on Holmgren Clear
Oklahoma City did not spend the offseason distancing itself from Holmgren’s performance.
Quite the opposite.
“We need Chet. We need Chet Holmgren,” Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said at the team’s end-of-season availability, adding that the Thunder are at their best when Holmgren is at his best.
Coach Mark Daigneault also pointed toward Holmgren’s larger impact on Oklahoma City’s rise rather than reducing his season to one bad series.
That context matters. Holmgren had just completed his best individual regular season, earned All-NBA and All-Defensive recognition and helped Oklahoma City finish atop the Western Conference.
But San Antonio presents a problem the Thunder may have to solve repeatedly if both young contenders remain near the top of the West.
Holmgren himself acknowledged after the series that the Spurs were different from a normal opponent because of their personnel and style.
That makes Opening Night more revealing than a typical October game.
The Thunder don’t need Holmgren to settle an entire rivalry in one night. They do need to see whether their All-Star big man attacks the matchup differently — taking open shots, imposing himself offensively and responding when Wembanyama and San Antonio’s length make the game uncomfortable.
Four months after his season ended with two shots, Holmgren’s next one begins against the same opponent.
There may not be a better first chance to change the last thing everyone remembers.
Thunder-Spurs Opening Night Gives Chet Holmgren Huge Redemption Chance