Thunder sweep past Grizzlies to reach West semis, Cavs on brink

The Oklahoma City Thunder, fueled by 38 points from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, held off the Memphis Grizzlies, 117-115, to complete a 4-0 sweep in their NBA Western Conference playoff series and become the first team to reach the second round.

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Jalen Williams added 23 points for the Thunder, who were pushed to the wire in Memphis despite the absence of Grizzlies star Ja Morant, who was ruled out with a hip contusion suffered in Game 3.

Scotty Pippen Jr. scored 30 points and Santi Aldama and Desmond Bane had 23 points each for the Grizzlies, who trailed by 12 with 3:37 to play but closed within two in the waning seconds only to come up short.

On the other hand, the Denver Nuggets leveled their West series with a stunning 101-99 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers sealed by Aaron Gordon’s put-back dunk at the final buzzer.