Mussatto: How Chet Holmgren set tone vs. Jonas Valanciunas in OKC Thunder rout of Pelicans

Chet Holmgren and Jonas Valanciunas, two players who share the same position and not much else.

Holmgren is a bomber and shot blocker, Valanciunas a bruiser and board getter. Holmgren a slender Minnesotan, Valanciunas a stout Lithuanian. Their contrasting styles and statures are borderline comical, like Aaron Judge standing beside Jose Altuve, only the difference being heft instead of height.

Valanciunas would be the pick in a prize fight, but this is a playoff series.

Holmgren over Valanciunas in Game 2. Thunder over Pelicans in Game 2.

Oklahoma City routed New Orleans 124-92 Wednesday night to take a commanding 2-0 series lead. The big vs. big battle was better than the game.

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Not even three minutes in, Valanciunas already had 11 points — the Pelicans’ first 11 points of the game.

Holmgren, meanwhile, scored 13 of the Thunder’s first 23 points. His 15 first-quarter points were the most of his career.

Valanciunas did his damage in the paint while Holmgren rained triples. It was vintage ball vs. modern.

TNT should’ve had a secondary broadcast with a camera fixated on Chet vs. Jonas, two humans befitting of their names. Holmgren is a scraggly-bearded 21-year-old. Valanciunas, 10 years Holmgren’s elder, chops wood and shaves with the same ax.

“I kind of understand the stigma that goes with him,” Jalen Williams said of Holmgren, and I think he takes it on as a challenge. He enjoys it.”

Holmgren had the reach advantage, but Valanciunas had the strength. At least to begin with.

The fight dramatically shifted in Holmgren’s favor in the second quarter. Valanciunas’ soft touch evaded him. Valanciunas backed down Holmgren, only to have his shot swatted by No. 7 in blue.

When he wakes up Thursday morning, Holmgren’s chest is going to match his jersey after taking blow after blow from Valanciunas. A win probably helps ease the pain.

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Holmgren didn’t play ball when asked if Valanciunas was trying to send a message, or if Holmgren was replying with one by bowing up.

“Obviously you don’t want him to thank, ‘Ah, this is easy,’” said Holmgren, adding, “he’s a good player. I’m not gonna shut him out on a decent amount of touches. I’ve just gotta make those as hard as possible.”

Holmgren was a team-high plus-32 in his 29 minutes. The rookie, in his second-career playoff game, had 26 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. He shot 9-of-13 from the floor, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

“In the first game I hit my first one and then threw up four bricks after that, so I just wanted to come out ready tonight to make my shots and capitalize on advantages we had out there,” Holmgren said.

After scoring 11 points in the first three minutes, Valanciunas scored eight points over his final 20 minutes. He grabbed 20 rebounds in Game 1. Just seven in Game 2.

Holmgren’s points came within the Thunder’s offense while Valanciunas’ early touches seemed forced. Valanciunas’ early success backfired, bogging down an already sticky Pelicans offense that has struggled to score in the series.

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“I thought he did a really good job of hanging in there,” Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said of Holmgren. “Some of the early Valanciunas baskets, (Holmgren) was helping and it was rotational stuff. A couple were offensive rebounds, so it wasn’t pure point-of-attack postups.

“There was other stuff that Valanciunas got into the game during that stretch that we could’ve cleaned up, but Chet did a great job on him tonight.”

Holmgren looks like a guy who should get overpowered, but that’s nothing new.

The toughness Holmgren showed Wednesday night? Shai Gilgeous-Alexander first saw it after Holmgren was drafted. Gilgeous-Alexander invited Holmgren to Toronto that summer, and the two teammates played in a pick-up game.

Holmgren was guarding a bigger guy.

“He was battling physically even though obviously he was giving up a lot of pounds,” Gilgeous-Alexander said.

Not only that, but also “talking smack and all that stuff. I knew Chet had that fire in him from that day,” SGA said.

That much hasn’t changed, from a pickup game in Toronto to a Game 2 victory in OKC.

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Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe's work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Chet Holmgren sets tone for OKC Thunder in Game 2 rout of Pelicans