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Thunder sweep Lakers, Cavaliers level Pistons series
AP • May 12th, 2026 6:02 pm
Oklahoma City's guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander shoots another basket against the Los Angeles Lakers | Photo: EPA
Oklahoma City have swept the Los Angeles Lakers out of the second round of the NBA playoffs with a hard-fought and tense five-point in Game 4.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points and Chet Holmgren made a tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds to play, as the Thunder beat the Lakers 115-110 on Monday night (Tuesday NZ time).
Ajay Mitchell scored 10 of his 28 points in the frantic final period as the Thunder overcame the Lakers' tenacious effort and improved to 8-0 in the playoffs with their toughest victory of the post-season.
LeBron James had 24 points and 14 rebounds in the final game of the unprecedented 23rd season for the top scorer in NBA history, but he missed a driving bank shot with 20 seconds left that would have put the Lakers ahead.
The 41-year-old James has repeatedly said he hasn't decided whether to play next season, so there was no ceremony or momentousness around this game.
Instead, the Lakers desperately tried to extend their year, only to lose to Oklahoma City for the eighth time this season.
Austin Reaves scored 27 points before missing a tying three-point attempt with eight seconds left for the Lakers, who advanced one round farther than almost anybody expected after losing NBA scoring champion Luka Doncic and Reaves to significant injuries a month ago.
Los Angeles still lost six of their final seven playoff games and fell well short of the conference finals for the third straight season.
Earlier, Donovan Mitchell tied an NBA playoff record with 39 points in the second half as hosts Cleveland evened their second-round series against Detroit at 2-2 with a 112-103 victory.
Mitchell finished with 43 points, including 15 during the Cavaliers' 24-0 rampage that went from the last 12 seconds of the first half to the first six minutes of the third quarter. Cleveland trailed 56-52 at halftime before taking control.
The run was the longest in an NBA playoff game since Minnesota also scored 24 straight in Game 6 of their Western Conference semi-final series against Denver in 2024. It was also the longest spurt by the Cavaliers in a post-season game since play-by-play stats were kept in 1997-98.
James Harden had his 40th playoff double-double with 24 points and 11 assists, while Evan Mobley had 17 points, five blocked shots and three steals as the Cavs remained unbeaten at home in six playoff games.
Caris LeVert had a season-high 24 points for the Pistons, who also got 19 out of Cade Cunningham and Tobias Harris added 16.
Game 5 is Wednesday night (Thursday NZT) in Detroit.
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