Jonas Valanciunas scored 11 points in the first 2½ minutes of the game, but Holmgren quickly caught Valanciunas and dominated the game.

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OKLAHOMA CITY — Jonas Valanciunas scored 11 points in the first 161 seconds of the game Wednesday night. I’ll save you the trouble of doing the math; Valanciuinas was on pace to score 248 points.

But early in the second quarter, the Pelicans’ literal bully on the block remained stuck on 11.

So Valanciunas, who looks like he fought Rocky Balboa and has a name to match, called for the ball. Valanciunas took three dribbles as he backed down the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, then launched the assault.

Three straight shoulders into Holmgren’s mid-section. Holmgren, giving up probably 75 pounds, gave ground every time.

That third bump created enough space for Valanciunas to turn and shoot. But that means it created enough space for Holmgren to jump. He timed his leap perfectly to swat away Valanciunas’ push shot. In his rookie year, Holmgren has blocked 195 shots. Surely none sweeter than the rejection of the New Orleans strongman.

By that time, Holmgren long had caught Valanciunas in scoring. Holmgren reached 11 points with 6:16 left in the first quarter. Surpassed 11 points with 5:18 left in the period.

Holmgren scored 15 first-quarter points, the Thunder had a commanding lead and there would be no nail-biting repeat of Game 1. OKC routed the Pelicans 124-92 to take a 2-0 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.

Holmgren’s fast start offensively (he made his first seven shots) and quick recovery defensively (Valanciunas made just three of eight shots over the final 45 minutes) paved the way for the Thunder runaway.

“In the first (series) game, I hit my first one, then threw up like four bricks after that,” Holmgren said. “So I just wanted to come out ready tonight to make my shots and capitalize on advantages that we have out there. I did a good job with that early.”

Holmgren made his first seven shots; three were deep balls. When Holmgren is shooting like that, the Thunder are the toughest of outs.

“He was great to start,” said Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. “He was aggressive. He was assertive. Made quick decisions, made the right decisions. Obviously a big reason why we got off to that lead. He just played to his strengths. We all know when he does so, he’s really good.”

The differences were staggering. On Sunday, when the Thunder scraped by 94-92, Gilgeous-Alexander had 28 points but shot just 11 of 24 from the field. Jalen Williams scored 19 points but made just eight of 18 shots.

Holmgren’s productivity changed that. SGA scored 33 points on 13-of-19 shooting, while Williams scored 21 points on 10-of-17 shooting.

The signs were everywhere. 

Thunder fan Eli Walch banked in a halfcourt shot during a contest and won $20,000. The Thunder shored up its rebounding deficiencies, outsourcing the Pelicans 8-7 in second-chance points. Even the “MVP! MVP!” chants for Gilgeous-Alexander were more in sync. 

The Thunder offense was so free-flowing and productive, that by the time SGA notched his first points, with three minutes left in the first quarter, OKC had a 23-18 lead.

“It’s no secret how good he is,” Holmgren said of SGA. “And other teams are definitely going to key in on that. No team guards anybody with one guy. That’s how career (scoring) nights happen. Nobody wants to be on the other side of that.

“So teams are going to guard him aggressively with more than one guy. Shoutout out to him. He was trusting us, making the right play, helping create advantages for other guys on the floor.”

This was a sobering night for New Orleans. The Pelicans caught the Thunder on a rough shooting night in Game 1 but didn’t win. In Game 2, the Thunder found its stroke and won going away — 58% shooting, 48.5 3-point shooting.

“Guys made shots,” Williams said. “I thought we got some good looks in the first game that didn’t go in. Probably from the excitement of the game, and just kind of first-game (playoff) nerves or whatever. I think we were able to settle in as a team and hit shots and open up the floor.

“When you hit shots, everybody kind of has to respect the 3-ball. I think Chet was like 5-for-5 to start the game, so when teams have that in the back of their minds to close to him, it just kind of spaces out the floor.”

The New Orleans standout’s body language was not good as he managed only 10 shots and 18 points in Oklahoma City’s 124-92 victory Wednesday. - by Jenni Carlson https://t.co/NcWN3rC24F #SelloutCrowd

— Sellout Crowd (@selloutcrowd_) April 25, 2024

Holmgren finished with 26 points on 9-of-13 shooting. It would have been more, except for a foul-count snafu. Holmgren was whistled for what the Thunder thought was Holmgren’s third personal foul. But it was just the second, and Daigneault didn’t discover the discrepancy until halftime.

But never mind. The Thunder was in full control by then.

A game that started out like it might be a long night for Holmgren instead was quite smooth.

“I just think obviously he’s a good player,” Holmgren said of his battles with Valanciunas. “And he’s confident in his ability, they’re going to him in the post. It’s my job to make those plays as tough as possible.”

And Holmgren gave Valancunius something to think about with that blocked short. Bully ball will always give Holmgren problems, until he bulks up and gets a lot thicker.

“We kind of understand the stigma that goes with him, and he kind of takes it on as a challenge,” Williams said of Holmgren’s slender frame. “He enjoys it. He enjoys the challenge. He’s so competitive, it’s something he understands.”

And here’s something we all understand. The lid is off the Thunder basket, Holmgren is not backing down and the West semifinals soon will be coming to Paycom Center.