It was their closest game of the postseason so far, but the Oklahoma City Thunder still haven’t slipped.
The Thunder held on late in a wild final few minutes to grab a 115-110 win over LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday night at Crypto.com Arena. The win completed the sweep for the Thunder, who have now won nine straight playoff games dating back to their championship last season. Their eight straight wins this spring ties the longest win streak to start a postseason by a defending champion in league history.
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Monday’s victory officially sent the Thunder into the Western Conference finals, where they’ll wait for either the Minnesota Timberwolves or San Antonio Spurs. That series is tied up 2-2 entering Game 5 on Tuesday night.
James, who is entering free agency this summer at yet another pivotal point in his career, had 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers in the loss.
Thunder hang on late to beat Lakers
The Lakers kept pace early on, and even closed the first quarter on an 18-7 burst to take a slight lead. Austin Reaves had eight points and was a perfect 3-of-3 from the field in the first 12 minutes, too.
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But, of course, the Thunder responded immediately. They opened the second quarter on a 17-0 run to take a double-digit lead almost instantly. They never trailed again. The Thunder took a four-point lead into the locker room at halftime, which was much closer than the game felt at the time, behind 14 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. James limped into the locker room after rolling his ankle in the final moments of the period, too, but he returned normally to start the third quarter.
The Lakers finally turned it on late in the third after a rough start to the second half, and actually took a four-point lead into the fourth quarter. It was the first time all series at the Lakers held the lead entering the final period — which happened in part after a massive Jaxson Hayes slam through Chet Holmgren.
That lead was pushed to five briefly in the fourth quarter, but it too stalled out. The Thunder tied it back up just before the midway point after a tough 3-pointer from Jared McCain. But the Lakers completed a pair of ridiculous and-one buckets, one from Rui Hachimura from behind the arc and then another from Marcus Smart inside the one-minute mark, to regain the lead briefly.
Holmgren threw down a two-handed dunk through James on the next possession to put the Thunder out in front. That ended up being enough. James missed a great look at a floater on the other end, and the Thunder then sank their free throws and came up with one final stop to seal the five-point win.
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Gilgeous-Alexander led Oklahoma City with 35 points and eight assists while shooting 11-of-22 from the floor. Ajay Mitchell had 28 points on 12 made field goals, too.
Reaves finished with 27 points with six rebounds and six assists for the Lakers to go with James’ 24 points. Hachimura had 25 points, too, and Hayes added 18 off the bench.
What’s next for LeBron James?
While the Thunder will continue on in their title defense, all eyes will now turn to James and what’s next for the Lakers star.
There has been plenty of speculation for months that James might retire at the end of the season, something that has now come for him and the Lakers. And that would make a lot of sense for plenty of reasons.
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James is 41 years old and accomplished just about everything possible throughout his NBA career. He’s a four-time NBA champion and a four-time MVP. He surpassed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s all-time scoring leader, and has both played more games and won more games than anyone else. Undoubtedly, James is one of the best to have ever played the sport.
James is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, too, so he has the freedom to do whatever he wants — whether that’s returning to the Lakers, signing with another team or retirement.
It’s unclear when James will make that decision. But now, with the Lakers officially out of the playoffs, the basketball world is waiting for James to make that announcement yet again.
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