Thunder Sweep Lakers to Reach Western Conference Finals
- mike33692
- 7 days ago
- 2 min read
Thunder Sweep Lakers to Reach Western Conference Finals
The Thunder sweep is complete.
The Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference Finals Monday night after defeating the Los Angeles Lakers 115-110 and finishing off a dominant four-game playoff sweep.
With the victory, the defending NBA champions improved to a perfect 8-0 this postseason and continued one of the strongest playoff starts in franchise history.
According to the official game recap from ESPN, the Thunder became just the fourth defending NBA champion ever to win its first eight playoff games.
Thunder Sweep Finished by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
MVP finalist Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way during the series-clinching victory with 35 points inside Crypto.com Arena.
The Lakers repeatedly battled back during the fourth quarter, but the Thunder sweep was sealed late after Chet Holmgren delivered a tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds remaining.
Second-year guard Ajay Mitchell also continued his breakout postseason with 28 points, including 10 points during the frantic fourth quarter.
The win completed Oklahoma City’s eighth victory over Los Angeles this season counting regular season and playoff games.
Thunder Sweep Overcomes Lakers’ Final Push
The Lakers gave Oklahoma City its toughest challenge of the postseason during Game 4.
LeBron James finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds while Austin Reaves added 27 points for Los Angeles.
The Lakers briefly regained the lead late in the fourth quarter after a three-point play from Marcus Smart and a four-point play by Rui Hachimura.
However, the Thunder responded immediately.
After Holmgren’s go-ahead dunk, Gilgeous-Alexander calmly knocked down late free throws before Oklahoma City secured the Thunder sweep in the final seconds.
The Lakers officially ended their season after losing eight straight games to Oklahoma City this year.
Thunder Sweep Sends OKC to Western Conference Finals
The Thunder sweep now sends Oklahoma City back to the Western Conference Finals for the sixth time in the last 16 seasons.
The Thunder will now face either the Minnesota Timberwolves or the San Antonio Spurs in the next round.
That second-round series remains tied 2-2 heading into Game 5 Tuesday night.
Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault praised his team after the series-clinching win, saying Oklahoma City earned every minute of the victory against a determined Lakers team.
The Thunder will now receive several days of rest before opening the Western Conference Finals later this week.
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