Thunder sweep Suns; Williams explodes
- Oklahoma City beat Phoenix 131-122 on Monday night, finishing a 4-0 first-round sweep as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 and Chet Holmgren added 24. - The Thunder opened with 75 first-half points, shot 53.7% from the field, and pushed their first-round record to 12-0 over three seasons. - Oklahoma City now waits for Lakers-Rockets after reaching the West semifinals again. (nba.com)
The Oklahoma City Thunder closed out Phoenix 131-122 on Monday night, finishing a 4-0 first-round sweep and moving into the Western Conference semifinals. (espn.com) (nba.com) Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 31 points, Chet Holmgren added 24, and Ajay Mitchell scored 22 for Oklahoma City in Game 4 at Mortgage Matchup Center. (espn.com) (nba.com) The Thunder put up 75 points in the first half and shot 44-for-82 from the field, a 53.7% clip, in front of a sellout crowd of 17,071. (nba.com) Phoenix got 32 points from Devin Booker, 26 from Dillon Brooks and 22 from Jalen Green, but the Suns never erased Oklahoma City’s early edge. (espn.com) (nba.com) The sweep kept Oklahoma City perfect in the first round for a third straight postseason. ESPN’s recap said the Thunder are now 12-0 in first-round games over the last three years. (espn.com) The series itself was lopsided from the start. Oklahoma City won Game 1 by 35 points, Game 2 by 13, Game 3 by 12 and Game 4 by nine. (nba.com) The Thunder do not yet have a semifinal opponent. The official playoff bracket listed Oklahoma City awaiting the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers-Houston Rockets series, with Los Angeles leading 3-1 as of Monday night. (nba.com 1) (nba.com 2) For Phoenix, the exit ended a season with a 45-37 record and another first-round defeat. For Oklahoma City, the next stop is the second round again, with home games still to come at Paycom Center once the bracket settles. (espn.com) (nba.com)
