It's a sweep in the first round for the third straight season.
The Oklahoma City Thunder pulled off its third consecutive first-round sweep on Monday night with a 131-122 victory over the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 on the road.
It was a contest that was actually competitive throughout, though the Thunder had control for the majority of the night, leading for more than 35 minutes. The Suns put up a real fight, but ultimately, Oklahoma City had too much firepower, too much depth and enough defensive resistance to finish the series in four games.
Even while giving up 122 points, the Thunder made life difficult on Phoenix’s primary scorers. Devin Booker made some shots late and finished with 24 point on 50% shooting, but he also committed six turnovers and never fully took over the game. Jalen Green led the Suns in shot attempts with 25, but made only 10 of them, including a 1-of-10 mark from beyond the arc.
Phoenix did have five players score in double figures, with four of them reaching at least 20 points, but the efficiency simply wasn’t good enough to keep pace with Oklahoma City. That was especially true from deep, where the Suns shot 35.9% compared to the Thunder’s blistering 50% mark from 3-point range.
For Oklahoma City, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the way with 31 points and eight assists, continuing to set the tone as the team’s superstar engine. Chet Holmgren was also excellent, finishing with 24 points and 12 rebounds, while Isaiah Hartenstein added 18 points and 12 boards of his own.
Ajay Mitchell, who was once again in the starting lineup, delivered one of the biggest performances of the night with 22 points and six assists while shooting 4-of-6 from beyond the arc. His production gave the Thunder another reliable scoring punch and helped keep Phoenix from ever fully swinging the momentum.
Overall, it was another complete team win for Oklahoma City. The Thunder will now await its second-round opponent, with the winner of the Houston Rockets versus Los Angeles Lakers series serving as the next challenge on OKC’s path to trying to win back-to-back NBA titles.