The Oklahoma City Thunder look to extend their perfect postseason run when they visit the Los Angeles Lakers on Monday for Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals, with a chance to advance to the next round.
The top-seeded Thunder, who swept the Phoenix Suns in the first round and now hold a 3-0 lead in this best-of-seven series against the Lakers, have won every playoff game by at least 18 points.
Their latest dominant performance came Saturday in Los Angeles, where Oklahoma City rolled to a 131-108 victory. Ajay Mitchell stepped up as the leading scorer, posting 24 points and 10 assists—both career playoff highs for the second-year guard.
Mitchell has averaged 17.4 points and 5.0 assists through seven postseason games, starting the last five after Jalen Williams suffered a left hamstring injury in Game 2 of the opening round.
“Every time I’m on the court, I just want to prove myself, be a winning player, and help my team win,” said Mitchell, a second-round pick in the 2024 draft out of UC Santa Barbara. “That’s been on my mind every time I play.”
With the Lakers focusing on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren has averaged 21.3 points and 10.0 rebounds in the series. Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 21.0 points and 5.7 assists while shooting 45.8% from the floor, well below his regular-season numbers of 31.1 points, 6.6 assists, and 55.3% shooting.
“They obviously haven’t been my best performances, but I’ve been able to help the team win, and that’s what matters most,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “If the rest of the playoffs or my career looked like the past few games, I’d be fine with it because we won.”
The Lakers, who eliminated the Houston Rockets in six games in the first round, now face elimination. Star guard Luka Doncic (hamstring) has not played in the postseason and is not expected to return for Game 4.
Austin Reaves returned from an oblique injury five games into the playoffs, but he has shot just 40.0% from the floor against the Thunder—including a 10-of-16 performance in Game 2.
LeBron James has averaged 23.0 points and 6.7 assists in the series, but the 41-year-old needs more help, especially on defense. Los Angeles has allowed 121.3 points per game in the series.
“I wouldn’t say I’m angry or disappointed,” James said. “Obviously you’re disappointed to be down 3-0. But we still have life, and that’s all you can ask for. We have to be much better on Monday. We’ll see what happens.”
The Lakers have led at halftime in each of the past two games, but the Thunder have overwhelmed them in the second half after raising their intensity.
Perhaps the most daunting statistic for the Lakers: no NBA team in history has rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win a best-of-seven series (0-161).
“This situation sucks, but that doesn’t give us the license to quit,” Reaves said. “We have to come in and compete. We owe that to the organization, to each other, and to our fans. So we’re going to come Monday and play as hard as we can.”
