Turn off the lights, light a candle.
The NBA playoffs were in full throttle on Saturday with four first-round matchups, three in the deep Western Conference. In Saturday’s two Game 4s, the Oklahoma City Thunder closed out a sweep over the resilient but shorthanded Memphis Grizzlies, while the Los Angeles Clippers could take a strangle hold on the series with a 3-1 lead over the Denver Nuggets.
The Thunder finished off the Grizzlies with a nail biting 117-115 win in Game 4 on the road on Saturday, and it did not take a 29-point comeback this time around.
With the Grizzlies missing star point guard Ja Morant, out with a hip contusion from Game 3, the Thunder were in control for most of the nip-and-tuck battle behind 38 points from Shai Gilgeous Alexander. Despite Morant missing the game and Zach Edey and Scotty Pippen Jr. fouling out, the Grizzlies kept it close and stayed within striking distance until the final possession.
“I didn’t feel like my mindset was any different,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “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.”
Oklahoma City did not have their A game on the offensive end of the court Saturday, struggling mightily to find the range from downtown, just a dismal 7-for-35 (20%) from 3-point land as a unit, one of the worst long-distance shooting performances in franchise playoff history.
Elite teams have more than one way to win in their toolbox, and if anything was learned this season, it is that the Thunder, the NBA’s No. 1 defense, and one of the best teams in the league at winning the all-important possession battle, are a pretty great team. And now, they are on to the Western Conference Semifinals.
“Their fight tonight was impressive, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said. “Down 3-0, down Morant and down 11 with four (minutes) to go. Lot of respect for them competitively.”
Gilgeous-Alexander, an MVP front runner, put up his 38 points on an efficient 13-for-24 from the field, punctuated by a step back dagger to the hearts of the Grizzlies and their fans, with 11 seconds remaining, to help Oklahoma City finish off the sweep and bring out the broom of an undermanned Grizzlies squad. All-Star forward Jalen Williams added 23 points, five assists and four rebounds for the No. 1seeded Thunder, who will take on the winner of the 4-vs.-5 matchup between the Nuggets and Clippers in Round 2.
Embed from Getty ImagesWith Morant on the bench in street clothes, Memphis needed big performances from ‘Triple J’ Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane to keep their season alive. They combined for just 35 points on 32 field-goal attempts, as they battled an impossible combination, both foul trouble and a snarling Thunder defense.
While this series started with the Thunder blowing the Grizzlies out in Games 1 and 2, and outscoring Memphis by 32 points in the second half of Game 3, the closeout contest was a much tighter affair, with seven lead changes and neither team able to get separation by more than 12 points. With their long-range shooting nowhere to be found, Oklahoma City relied largely on its defense, forcing the Morant-less Grizzles into 21 turnovers, leading to 32 Thunder points. Between all those Memphis giveaways and OKC both limiting its own mistakes, just eight turnovers leading to nine Grizzlies points, and grabbing their misses (12 offensive rebounds, 15 second-chance points), the Thunder wound up taking 14 more field-goal attempts than the Grizzlies, which was a major possession advantage that paid major dividends.
Memphis looked to bounce back from Thursday’s devastating blown 29-point lead by getting off to a hot start, opening 8-for-12 (75%) from the floor to gain an early advantage. The Thunder kept pace, thanks in large part to Gilgeous-Alexander finally starting to unthaw after an icy start to the playoffs.
After shooting just 35.3% from the floor and 25% from 3-point range in the first three games of the series, Gilgeous-Alexander made his first seven shots on Saturday, pouring in 16 points in the opening quarter, the highest-scoring postseason quarter of his career and assisting on seven more, helping the Thunder race to a 34-31 lead after 12 minutes.
But while Gilgeous-Alexander and Williams came out hot, Oklahoma City’s frigid outside shooting allowed a physical, sometimes over the edge Memphis team to stay in the fight. Morant’s replacements at point guard Pippen Jr. and in the starting lineup, elevated reserve forward Santi Aldama, combined for 25 points on 8-for-15 shooting in the first half, sending the Grizzlies into the locker room down only one, 60-59.
Oklahoma City seized control in the third, ripping off an early 9-0 run fueled by, what else, its stingy defense:
But Pippen Jr., a bright spot in Morant’s place, scoring a career playoff high 30 points to go with 11 rebounds and four assists, continued to work his way to the basket and keep the Grizzlies close. But after a 10-0 Memphis run made it a one-possession game heading into the final minute, Thunder center Chet Holmgren stripped Pippen Jr. under the basket before drawing a sixth frustration foul that turned Memphis’ best offensive initiator into nothing but a spectator for the rest of the game.
“Scotty did a tremendous job throughout the end of the season. He was very consistent on both ends,” Grizzlies interim coach Tuomas Iisalo said.
A pair of late 3s by Bane and Vince Williams Jr. made the Thunder nervous into the closing seconds. But Thunder head coach Mark Daigneault did not let Memphis get off a potential overtime- forcing 3-point attempt, having his players foul with a three-point lead to preserve the advantage and a few ticks later, make Oklahoma City the first team to move on in the 2025 NBA playoffs.
“We could have been a little bit tighter when we built the lead (to 11 in the fourth quarter),” Daigneault said. “I thought we got a little bit loose on defensive possessions specifically. Once it tightened up, I thought everything from execution to clock management … was all very positive.”
