The Oklahoma City Thunder are one win from the NBA Finals.
With a dazzling display of bend-but-don't-break down the stretch, and led by a 40-point, 10-assist, nine-rebound night by MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the Thunder held off the Minnesota Timberwolves to take a 3-1 lead in the Western Conference finals.
The Thunder can clinch a trip to the title round with a win at home on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, the Indiana Pacers play host to the New York Knicks in Game 4 of the East title series. Indiana leads the series 2-1, and Pacers star Tyrese Haliburton will have his father in the building to watch Game 4.
An answer — every time
Give Oklahoma City credit. Every time Minnesota got within three points or less in the fourth quarter of Game 4, the Thunder had an answer.
There were 12 instances of Minnesota cutting into the OKC lead and making it a one-possession game in the final 12 minutes on Monday night. The Thunder scored on the very next possession 10 times to restore a bit of breathing room — and never trailed in that final period.
(The two other instances? OKC scored two possessions after a Timberwolves score one time, and the other was the last Thunder possession of the game where Gilgeous-Alexander threw the ball away in an effort to run off the final second.)
SGA is the MVP
A recap of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander's winning of the NBA MVP award.
The story: Gilgeous-Alexander tops Jokic for MVP award
The reaction: SGA tears up when talking about his wife
Steve Nash speaks: Canada's 1st MVP thrilled to see SGA follow him
The notebook: Jokic finishes top-2 for 5th straight year, Giannis' streak ends, LeBron gets votes
Tuesday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — New York at Indiana (TNT)
Wednesday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Minnesota at Oklahoma City (ESPN)
Thursday's national TV schedule
8 p.m. EDT — Indiana at New York (TNT)
Friday's national TV schedule
8:30 p.m. EDT — Oklahoma City at Minnesota (ESPN), if necessary
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (-375) is an even bigger favorite now to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook. Indiana (+550) remains the second choice, followed by New York (+1000) and Minnesota (+4000).
The Pacers are a 2.5-point favorite over New York on Tuesday.
Conference finals schedules
East (all 8 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Indiana 138, New York 135, OT; Game 2, Indiana 114, New York 109; Game 3, New York 106, Indiana 100; Game 4 at Indiana on May 27; Game 5 at New York on May 29; Game 6 at Indiana on May 31; Game 7 at New York on June 2.
West (all 8:30 p.m. EDT) — Game 1, Oklahoma City 114, Minnesota 88; Game 2, Oklahoma City 118, Minnesota 103; Game 3, Minnesota 143, Oklahoma City 101; Game 4, Oklahoma City 128, Minnesota 126; Game 5 at Oklahoma City on May 28; Game 6 at Minnesota on May 30; Game 7 at Oklahoma City on June 1.
Award season
The All-NBA team was revealed Friday with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Jayson Tatum and Donovan Mitchell on the first team, and LeBron James — at 40 years old — making an All-NBA team for the 21st time.
Other awards this season:
— Shai Gilgeous-Alexander won the MVP award.
— Stephon Castle was a unanimous All-Rookie team selection.
— Oklahoma City's Sam Presti won executive of the year.
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson won coach of the year.
— Boston's Jrue Holiday won the social justice award and the sportsmanship award.
— Atlanta's Dyson Daniels won most improved player.
— San Antonio's Stephon Castle won rookie of the year.
— Golden State's Stephen Curry won the Twyman-Stokes teammate of the year award.
— Golden State's Draymond Green won the hustle award.
— Cleveland's Evan Mobley won defensive player of the year.
— New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
— Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Scoring leaders
The highest-scoring games by players so far in this year's playoffs:
48 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 6
44 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 13
43 — Donovan Mitchell, Cleveland vs. Indiana, May 9
43 — Jamal Murray, Denver vs. LA Clippers, April 29
43 — Anthony Edwards, Minnesota vs. LA Lakers, April 27
43 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Indiana, May 21
42 — Jayson Tatum, Boston at New York, May 12
42 — Nikola Jokic, Denver at Oklahoma City, May 5
40 — Jalen Brunson, New York at Detroit, May 1
40 — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City at Minnesota, May 26
39 — Jalen Brunson, New York vs. Boston, May 12
39 — Kawhi Leonard, LA Clippers at Denver, April 21
39 — Pascal Siakam, Indiana at New York, May 23
Key upcoming events
June 1 — Last possible date for Game 7 of the Western Conference finals.
June 2 — Last possible date for Game 7 of Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Draft lottery
Dallas had 1.8% odds to win the No. 1 pick in the draft lottery — but overcame those odds and now has the opportunity to draft Cooper Flagg. The Mavericks won the lottery last Monday night in Chicago.
— Flagg, just a kid from Maine, hasn't forgotten his roots
— From Rutgers to the lottery for Harper, Bailey
— A Chinese teen is a draft hopeful, and has big shoes to fill
— Rick Welts has seen this before
Comeback season
The Knicks — again — added to the list in Game 3 of the East finals.
There have been six wins by teams that trailed by 20 points or more so far in these playoffs. That's the most in any postseason during the play-by-play era, which started with the 1997 playoffs.
The biggest deficits that were successfully overcome:
29 — Oklahoma City at Memphis, April 24 (Thunder won 114-108)
20 — Indiana vs. Milwaukee, April 29 (Pacers won 119-118)
20 — New York at Boston, May 5 (Knicks won 108-105)
20 — Indiana at Cleveland, May 6 (Pacers won 120-119)
20 — New York at Boston, May 7 (Knicks won 91-90)
20 — New York at Indiana, May 25 (Knicks won 106-100)
Last-second Pacers rallies
Indiana has pulled off three last-minute rallies from at least seven points down to win in these playoffs:
— April 29: Trailed Milwaukee 118-111 with 34.6 seconds left in overtime, won 119-118.
— May 6: Trailed Cleveland 119-112 with 48 seconds left, won 120-119.
— May 21: Trailed New York 121-112 with 51.1 seconds left in regulation, won 138-135 in overtime.
Stats of the day
— The Pacers and Knicks are a combined 12-2 on the road in these playoffs (both 6-1) while going just 7-7 at home (4-2 for the Pacers, 3-5 for the Knicks).
— The Thunder are 4-6 this season when giving up 126 or more points. That's a .400 winning percentage; the rest of the league combined, when allowing that many points, has a .141 winning percentage.
— There have been 45 instances of someone having a 40-point double-double this season, including playoffs, with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander the most recent entry on that list. More than half — 25 of the 45 — have been posted by international players.
Quote of the day
“Definitely not the points I wanted to get. But they didn't really let me get too many shots off." — Minnesota's Anthony Edwards, after scoring 16 points in the Game 4 loss to Oklahoma City.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
Credit: AP
Credit: AP