The Thunder erase the Lakers from the map in a worthy fashion (4-0)

The Los Angeles Lakers put everything they had to avoid elimination, but not even a final effort led by LeBron James and Austin Reaves was enough against an unstoppable Oklahoma City Thunder. The Oklahoma franchise closed the series quickly after winning 115-110 in the fourth game, sealing a convincing 4-0 in the Western Conference semifinals.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again led the Thunder with 35 points, while Chet Holmgren made the decisive play of the night with a dunk with 32.8 seconds remaining to break the tie and guide the definitive victory. Oklahoma City maintains its spectacular playoff start with a perfect 8-0 record.

The game was the most challenging of the postseason for the Thunder. The Lakers entered the final quarter with a fighting chance and reacted time and time again in the closing minutes thanks to Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. Reaves finished with 27 points, although he missed a three-pointer to tie the game with eight seconds left, while Hachimura contributed 25 points, nine of them in the last period.

Ajay Mitchell was another unexpected hero of the night. The shooting guard scored 28 points, including 10 in the frantic final stretch, to sustain Oklahoma City when the Lakers threatened to force another game.

LeBron James closed the game with 24 points and 14 rebounds in what could have been the last game of his historic career. The 41-year-old forward has not yet confirmed if he will play next season and missed a crucial layup with 20 seconds remaining that could have given an advantage to Los Angeles.

The Lakers surpassed expectations after losing Luka Doncic to injury during the final stretch of the season. The Slovenian missed the last 15 games of the season due to a grade 2 hamstring tear suffered on April 2nd precisely against Oklahoma City. Doncic watched the game from the bench dressed in black and was never close to returning.

The Lakers, back home early again

The Los Angeles team concludes a disappointing season in which it once again fell short of the conference finals for the third consecutive year, also losing six of their last seven playoff games.

Oklahoma City, on the other hand, continues to assert itself as one of the top title contenders. The Thunder won all eight matchups against the Lakers this season, including the four in the regular season, and now await their opponent in the Western Conference finals between the San Antonio Spurs and Minnesota Timberwolves, a series that will go to a fifth game.

This news is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Los Thunder borran del mapa a unos dignos Lakers (4-0)