The Oklahoma City Thunder were finally forced into a real fight, and they passed it anyway. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Chet Holmgren delivered the tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds left, and the Thunder finished off a four-game sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 115-110 win in Game 4 on Monday night at crypto.com Arena.
Oklahoma City moved to 8-0 in the playoffs and reached the Western Conference finals for the sixth time in the last 16 seasons. This was the closest game of the postseason for the Thunder, who had won the first three games by 18, 18 and 23 points.
The Lakers made sure this one looked different. They led at times, kept the game tight late, and forced Oklahoma City into its first fourth-quarter deficits of the entire playoffs before the Thunder closed with the poise that has defined its run.
Ajay Mitchell gave the Thunder a huge lift off the bench, scoring 28 points with 10 coming in the final period. Holmgren added 16 points and nine rebounds, while Gilgeous-Alexander controlled the game again with efficient scoring and steady late-game execution.
LeBron James finished with 24 points and 14 rebounds in what ended up being the final game of his unprecedented 23rd NBA season. He missed a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left that would have put Los Angeles ahead, and the missed chance reflected how close the Lakers came before the Thunder closed the door.
Austin Reaves scored 27 points and Rui Hachimura added 25, including nine in the fourth quarter, as Los Angeles refused to fold. Hachimura’s four-point play and Marcus Smart’s three-point play briefly gave the Lakers a 110-109 lead in the final minute.
That edge lasted only until Holmgren answered inside, triple-pumped, and dunked over the top for the go-ahead basket. Gilgeous-Alexander then hit two free throws, and Reaves missed a tying 3-pointer with eight seconds left as Oklahoma City sealed the sweep.
The result carried extra weight because the Thunder had already beaten the Lakers eight times in eight meetings this season, including all four regular-season matchups. Even with Luka Doncic sidelined by a grade 2 hamstring strain and missing the final 15 games of the season, Los Angeles pushed farther than many expected after a month of injuries changed its outlook.
Still, the Lakers fell short of the conference finals for the third straight season and dropped six of their final seven playoff games. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, now gets at least the rest of the week to prepare for the Western Conference finals against the winner of the San Antonio-Minnesota series.
