Thunder sweep Lakers 115-110 in Game 4 to advance to conference finals

The Oklahoma City Thunder eliminated the Los Angeles Lakers from the NBA playoffs Monday night with a 115-110 victory in Game 4. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 35 points. Chet Holmgren sealed the win with a dunk with 32.8 seconds remaining on the clock.

The Thunder swept the series 4-0 and improved to 8-0 in the playoffs. This was their toughest victory so far in the postseason. Ajay Mitchell scored 28 points for Oklahoma City, including 10 in the final period as the team pulled away late.

LeBron James scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in what may be his final game. The 41-year-old has not said whether he will play next season. James missed a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left that would have tied the game. "I don't know what the future holds for me, obviously, as it stands right now, tonight," James said. "I've got a lot of time. I'll go back and recalibrate with my family and talk with them, and when the time goes, obviously you guys will know what I decide to do."

Austin Reaves added 27 points for the Lakers but missed a 3-point attempt with eight seconds left that would have tied the game. Rui Hachimura scored 25 points, including nine in the fourth quarter. The Lakers lost six of their final seven playoff games and missed the conference finals for the third straight season.

Lakers coach JJ Redick said: "I didn't want our season to end. I wanted to keep this thing going. I enjoyed every bit of this year." The Lakers fell behind early in the series, losing the first two games at home by 18 points each. Oklahoma City also won Game 3 by a large margin, 131-108.

The Thunder had swept all four regular-season matchups with the Lakers this year, winning 8-0 overall. Mark Daigneault, the Thunder coach, noted that Monday's game was different from earlier in the series. "They won more of the minutes tonight than we did, and that hadn't been the case (earlier in the series)," Daigneault said. "They outplayed us for stretches. They're a really good team with prideful players. We did not expect them to give us an unearned win, and we went out and earned it."

The Thunder will wait for the winner of the San Antonio and Minnesota second-round series, which heads to Game 5 on Tuesday night. Oklahoma City will face the survivor in the conference finals. The Thunder have reached the Western Conference finals six times in the last 16 seasons.

Luka Doncic, the NBA's leading scorer this season, missed the final 15 games of the Lakers' season after suffering a grade 2 hamstring strain on April 2 in Oklahoma City. He watched the season finale from the bench and did not appear close to returning, as such injuries typically require two months of recovery.