Thunder sweep Lakers, advance to Western Conference Finals

LOS ANGELES — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points, Chet Holmgren made a tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds to play, and the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the second round of the NBA playoffs with a 115-110 victory in Game 4 on Monday night.

Ajay Mitchell scored 10 of his 28 points in the frantic final period as the Thunder overcame the Lakers’ tenacious effort and improved to 8-0 in the playoffs with their toughest victory of the postseason.

LeBron James had 24 points and 14 rebounds in the final game of the unprecedented 23rd season for the top scorer in NBA history, but he missed a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left that would have put the Lakers ahead.

The 41-year-old James has repeatedly said he hasn’t decided whether to play next season, so there was no ceremony or momentousness around this game. Instead, the Lakers desperately tried to extend their year, only to lose to Oklahoma City for the eighth time this season.

Austin Reaves scored 27 points before missing a tying 3-point attempt with eight seconds left for the Lakers, who advanced one round farther than almost anybody expected after losing NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and Reaves to significant injuries a month ago.

Los Angeles still lost six of its final seven playoff games and fell well short of the conference finals for the third straight season.

Oklahoma City faced its first fourth-quarter deficits of the entire playoffs in Game 4 as the Lakers repeatedly refused to fold.

After this test, the Thunder will get at least the rest of the week off before they open the conference finals against the winner of San Antonio’s second-round series with Minnesota. The Spurs and Timberwolves are even heading to Game 5 on Tuesday night.

Oklahoma City went 8-0 against the Lakers this season, winning all four regular-season matchups as well — but this one was the toughest. The Lakers took the lead and kept it close down the stretch with big buckets from Reaves and Rui Hachimura, who scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth quarter.

Holmgren’s dunk with 2:03 left put the Thunder up 109-103, but Hachimura coolly converted a four-point play. Marcus Smart then drove the lane and hit a layup while being fouled in the final minute, converting a three-point play for a 110-109 Lakers lead.

But Holmgren got the ball inside and triple-pumped for a dunk with 32.8 seconds left, and James missed on his drive. After Gilgeous-Alexander hit two free throws, Reaves missed again, and the Thunder hung on to secure their sixth berth in the Western Conference finals in the last 16 seasons.

The Thunder won the first two games of the series at home by 18 points apiece, and they routed the Lakers 131-108 in Game 3.

Doncic missed the final 15 games of the Lakers’ season after incurring a grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 in Oklahoma City, and he watched the season finale on the bench in a black sweatsuit. The Slovenian superstar apparently didn’t get close to returning from the injury, which often requires two months of recovery.