OKLAHOMA CITY -- Chet Holmgren's return from injury makes the NBA-best Thunder even better.

Last season's runner-up for rookie of the year was back in Oklahoma City's starting lineup Friday night after missing nearly three months with a pelvic fracture. The versatile 7-foot-1 forward had four points, five rebounds, four blocks and two steals during the Thunder's 121-109 win over the Toronto Raptors.

"It's amazing," he said. "I missed it for a long time, and I worked really hard to be able to get back out there. So I'm happy and excited and look forward to continue to try and help us win and keep improving."

He played 22 minutes and the Thunder outscored the Raptors by 22 points while he was on the floor.

Holmgren was the second pick in the 2022 draft but missed what would have been his rookie season with a foot injury. He played all 82 games in 2023-24, averaging 16.5 points and 7.9 rebounds to help the Thunder earn the No. 1 seed in the West.

He averaged 16.4 points and 8.7 rebounds in 10 games this season before getting injured. He wasn't expected to approach those numbers Friday.

"It ties a bow on his return to play. His return to performance isn't over," Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. "It takes a while for a guy that's been out that long, especially a lower-body injury, to get himself back to game shape, endurance, rhythm, all those things. And so we'll continue to work with him on probably a week-to-week basis. But it was a great start."

Holmgren could afford to ease his way in because his absence did little to slow MVP contender Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Thunder, who sit comfortably atop the West standings. They improved to 41-9 with the win over Toronto.

Still, there was high anticipation for his return. Holmgren was cheered during pregame warmups, and the crowd was even louder when he became the first Thunder player introduced.

Holmgren's first basket was a floater from 4 feet away just over two minutes into the game.

On Oklahoma City's next basket, Holmgren drove to the paint, spun and found center Isaiah Hartenstein, who drove to the lane and made a floater.

Holmgren's second and last field goal, also in the first quarter, was set up by the footwork fans have come to expect. With his back to the basket, he jab-stepped right, then spun left and hit a fadeaway from just inside the free-throw line.

In the fourth quarter, he stuffed a dunk attempt by Scottie Barnes, his most emphatic play of the night and emblematic of his overall strong defense.

According to Second Spectrum, Holmgren held the Raptors to 1-of-8 shooting (12.5%) in the paint as the contesting defender. That is his second-lowest field goal percentage allowed in the paint in a game in his career. He is now holding opponents to 38.6% shooting in the paint as the contesting defender this season, the best in the NBA.

Holmgren and fellow big man Hartenstein played together for the first time all season. Hartenstein, a free-agent pickup this past summer, missed the early part of the season with a broken left hand.

Holmgren only took five shots because he knew he didn't need to score to affect the game.

"It's not going to be the Chet Holmgren show," he said. "This is the Thunder. Whether I had an injury or not, that's what it is. I'm just trying to go out there and help the team win in any way I can. I'm not expecting to become like a sideshow apart from what our goal is going out there every single night, and that's to win basketball games."

Daigneault said inserting such a talented player into a group that's having success can present challenges. He commended Holmgren for being a good teammate and making it easier.

"We're not asking for it to be perfect," he said. "It's one of those things that, if it requires one step backwards to take two steps forward, we're willing to do that because we think it's got a really high ceiling."

Information from ESPN Research and The Associated Press was used in this report.