Thunder Sweep Lakers 4-0 in West Semifinals

The Los Angeles Lakers' playoff run ended Monday night with a 115-110 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals at Crypto.com Arena, completing a 4-0 sweep.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 35 points to lead the Thunder, the defending NBA champions who improved to 8-0 in the postseason and advanced to the Western Conference finals against the winner of the San Antonio Spurs-Minnesota Timberwolves series, currently tied 2-2. Chet Holmgren delivered a tiebreaking dunk with 32.8 seconds left to secure the victory. LeBron James tallied 24 points and 12 rebounds for the Lakers but missed a potential go-ahead shot late in the game.

The series exposed Los Angeles' vulnerabilities after key injuries. Luka Doncic, the team's scoring leader at 33.5 points per game during the regular season, missed the entire postseason with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain suffered April 2 against Oklahoma City. Austin Reaves also sat out early games with an oblique strain from the same contest. Despite the absences, the Lakers finished 53-29, captured the Pacific Division title and upset the Houston Rockets 4-2 in the first round. James shouldered much of the load,...