Thunder sweep Suns, first through

Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 131-122 on Monday night to finish a 4-0 first-round sweep and become the first team into the second round. (nba.com) (espn.com) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points on 10-of-17 shooting and made 9 of 11 free throws in Game 4. Chet Holmgren added 24 points as the Thunder scored 131 for the second straight game. (espn.com) (nba.com) Devin Booker led Phoenix with 24 points, but the Suns never cut deeply into the final margin after Oklahoma City scored 75 points in the first half. The Thunder won every quarter except the third, which was even at 31-31. (espn.com) The sweep matched the way Oklahoma City opened last season’s championship run. ESPN and NBA.com both noted it was the Thunder’s third straight first-round sweep. (espn.com) (nba.com) Game 3 had already pushed the series to the brink when Gilgeous-Alexander scored a career playoff-high 42 points on 15-for-18 shooting. Phoenix entered Game 4 trying to avoid elimination at home and could not slow Oklahoma City’s offense. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) NBA.com said Oklahoma City’s offense stayed efficient “to the bench” in the closeout, with 34 assists and 17 made 3-pointers in the box score. The Thunder also got 15 points from Isaiah Hartenstein and 14 from Jalen Williams. (nba.com) (espn.com) Phoenix finished the regular season 45-37 and entered the playoffs as the West’s No. 8 seed. Oklahoma City was 64-18 and opened the postseason as the No. 1 seed in the conference. (espn.com) The Thunder now wait for the winner of another Western Conference first-round series, with their title defense still on schedule after four games. (espn.com)