The Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 115-110 in Game 4 on Monday to complete the series sweep.
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The first quarter wasn’t a pretty display of shooting for either team. The Lakers continued their trend of struggling from the outside, but they got more opportunities at the free throw line early.
L.A.’s defense played well to grab a four-point lead after 12 minutes.
OKC’s size and depth became a major advantage in the second quarter. Not only did they force the Lakers into a cold shooting stretch, they were disruptive enough to make turnovers a factor.
The second quarter wasn’t a perfect showing for the Thunder, but they outscored L.A. 28-19 in the period to enter halftime with a four-point advantage.
That lead ballooned back to 11 early in the third, but Rui Hachimura erupted for 12 third-quarter points to help the Lakers storm back into it.
Ultimately, L.A. found a rhythm and put up 39 points in the third to make take their own four-point lead.
The fourth quarter was an exciting display of shot-making from both squads. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was feeling it for OKC while LeBron James and the Lakers were getting the shots they wanted.
While the Thunder were able to make some big shots in clutch time, the Lakers went on a blistering 7-0 scoring run to take a one-point lead. With just over 30 seconds to play, Chet Holmgren threw down a strong slam inside to retake the lead.
On the other end, James got downhill to the rim, but couldn’t get the layup to fall. Gilgeous-Alexander knocked down two huge free throws after the rebound to go up by three with 12 seconds to go.
Austin Reaves took a deep three immediately off the inbounds pass, but he couldn’t find the bottom of the net either. Ajay Mitchell sank two big free throws after a quick foul to go up by five and complete the sweep.
Gilgeous-Alexander was terrific with 35 points and eight assists on 11-of-22 shooting.
For the Lakers, Hachimura had 25 points and five rebounds as James put up 24 points and 12 rebounds.
The Thunder will now face the winner of the Spurs-Timberwolves series in the Western Conference Finals.
James Parker is a sports writer for Ball Exclusives, follow him on X @TheJames_Parker
