The Oklahoma City Thunder opened these playoffs in similar fashion to last season’s championship run by sweeping their first-round series.
“It is a really good feeling,” Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after scoring 31 points and dishing out eight assists in Monday’s 131-122 win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 4. “Just confidencewise, as a group, it’s good to get the playoff runs started off that way. It’s just important to get out on a good foot. You never know what can happen. Usually, the later you go, the better the team, so the series don’t get like that. But you want to give yourself as many days as you can to rest.”
In fact, it’s the third consecutive postseason that Oklahoma City busted out the brooms in the first round as the Western Conference’s top seed. The Thunder are 12-0 in first-round games under coach Mark Daigneault.
After missing the playoffs last season, the Suns changed coaches for the third straight summer under owner Mat Ishbia and moved on from two of their major acquisitions of his tenure by trading Kevin Durant to the Rockets and waiving and stretching Bradley Beal.
Phoenix was widely projected to miss the playoffs again, but the Suns made a nine-win improvement from last season to finish with a 45-37 record under rookie head coach Jordan Ott.
sports
