OKC dominates: Third straight first-round sweep

The Oklahoma City Thunder continue their march with no distractions. After finishing the regular season as the NBA’s top team with 64 wins, marking their second straight year surpassing the 60-win mark, OKC made quick work of their first-round playoff series, sweeping the Phoenix Suns 4–0.

It’s the third consecutive year they’ve advanced past the opening round with a sweep, having previously dominated the Memphis Grizzlies and the New Orleans Pelicans in the same fashion.

Waiting for their next opponent

The Thunder now await the winner of the series between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets, currently led 3–1 by Los Angeles.

OKC made sure not to waste any extra energy, closing out the series on the road with a 131–122 win, their tightest margin of the four games.

Suns fight, but fall short

The Suns were expected to fall, but they didn’t go quietly. Devin Booker led the resistance with 24 points, while Dillon Brooks and Jalen Green added 23 each.

Their effort even produced a comeback after trailing early (26–37), with Phoenix briefly taking a 55–48 lead and raising hopes of an upset. But it didn’t last.

The Thunder responded with authority. Their outside shooting - 17-of-34 from three - gradually broke Phoenix’s resistance. A basket from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander midway through the third quarter pushed the lead to 90–76 and shifted momentum for good.

Shai finished as the game’s top scorer with 31 points and added 8 assists, once again leading from the front.

Chet Holmgren delivered a dominant performance as well, posting 24 points and 12 assists. By the time the Thunder stretched the lead to 122–106 in the fourth quarter, the outcome was sealed. Phoenix’s season is over. Oklahoma City, meanwhile, looks ahead with the clear goal of winning another championship.

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Phoenix Suns

Stats

8 Grayson Allen
1 Devin Booker
17 Jamaree Bouyea
3 Dillon Brooks
2 Amir Coffey
0 Ryan Dunn
20 Rasheer Fleming
12 Collin Gillespie
4 Jalen Green
19 Haywood Highsmith
11 Oso Ighodaro
10 Khaman Maluach
0 Royce O'Neale

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
8 Grayson Allen	20	12	3	1	2	3	0	0	2	2/2	2/2	2/3	0	0
1 Devin Booker	40	24	0	0	0	6	6	0	1	7/9	7/10	1/6	0	5
17 Jamaree Bouyea	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0
3 Dillon Brooks	41	23	4	2	2	3	0	1	1	1/1	8/15	2/4	0	3
2 Amir Coffey	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
0 Ryan Dunn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/1	0	0
20 Rasheer Fleming	9	0	1	1	0	0	1	2	1	0/0	0/0	0/2	0	2
12 Collin Gillespie	28	20	2	0	2	2	0	1	0	0/1	1/1	6/11	0	4
4 Jalen Green	38	23	6	2	4	4	2	4	0	2/3	9/15	1/10	0	3
19 Haywood Highsmith	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
11 Oso Ighodaro	33	8	8	1	7	4	2	2	1	0/0	4/5	0/0	0	5
10 Khaman Maluach	5	2	2	1	1	0	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	0
0 Royce O'Neale	18	8	7	2	5	2	1	0	0	0/0	1/1	2/2	0	3

Oklahoma City Thunder

Stats

9 Alex Caruso
5 Luguentz Dort
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
55 Isaiah Hartenstein
7 Chet Holmgren
11 Isaiah Joe
3 Jared McCain
25 Ajay Mitchell
44 Nikola Topić
22 Cason Wallace
21 Aaron Wiggins
6 Jaylin Williams
34 Kenrich Williams

Stats

	Min	Pts	TR	OR	DR	Ast	Los	Rec	Blk	S1	S2	S3	RF	CF
9 Alex Caruso	25	14	4	0	4	1	3	1	0	0/0	1/1	4/6	0	2
5 Luguentz Dort	26	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	1	1/2	0/0	0/2	0	4
2 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander	37	31	2	0	2	8	3	0	1	9/11	8/13	2/4	0	2
55 Isaiah Hartenstein	29	18	12	7	5	3	2	1	0	8/9	5/7	0/0	0	2
7 Chet Holmgren	34	24	12	2	10	3	2	2	0	4/4	7/11	2/5	0	2
11 Isaiah Joe	7	6	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0/0	0/0	2/5	0	1
3 Jared McCain	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/1	0/0	0	0
25 Ajay Mitchell	33	22	4	1	3	6	3	0	0	4/4	3/10	4/6	0	2
44 Nikola Topić	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0
22 Cason Wallace	22	10	4	3	1	4	2	1	1	0/0	2/4	2/3	0	2
21 Aaron Wiggins	11	2	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0/0	1/1	0/0	0	1
6 Jaylin Williams	9	3	0	0	0	1	0	0	1	0/0	0/0	1/3	0	2
34 Kenrich Williams	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0/0	0/0	0/0	0	0