MEMPHIS — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 38 points as the Oklahoma City Thunder advanced to the Western Conference semifinals by beating the Memphis Grizzlies 117-115 on Saturday to complete a four-game sweep in the first round of the NBA playoffs.
Jalen Williams added 23 points for the top-seeded Thunder, who led the league with a 68-14 record during the regular season and became the first team to reach the second round this year. They will await the fourth-seeded Denver Nuggets or No. 5 Los Angeles Clippers in the next round.
The Clippers and Nuggets are tied at two wins apiece, with Game 5 on Tuesday, Game 6 on Thursday and Game 7 — if necessary — next Saturday. Ahead for the Thunder is time to rest after a sweep that came despite Gilgeous-Alexander, an NBA MVP finalist, not matching his team’s dominance until Game 4.
“I didn’t feel like my mindset was any different,” said Gilgeous-Alexander, who was a prep standout at Chattanooga’s Hamilton Heights Christian Academy. “Every night I step on the floor to be the best version of myself. I hadn’t been in the past (games), but tonight I was pretty close to it. I think because I kept the same mindset, it allowed me to just play free.”
The Grizzlies played without star guard Ja Morant, who bruised his left hip in a hard fall two days earlier in Game 3. The Thunder erased a 29-point deficit after he left Thursday night, the second-biggest comeback in a postseason game since detailed play-by-play began being kept in 1996-97.