THE Oklahoma City Thunder became the first side to advance from the first round of the NBA play-offs as they completed a 4-0 sweep over the Memphis Grizzlies in their best-of-seven series.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander starred again, scoring a play-off career-high 38 points in a 117-115 victory to help send the Thunder into the Western Conference play-off semi-finals.
Gilgeous-Alexander averaged more than 32 points per game in the regular season, in which the Thunder won 68 games.

Jalen Williams added 23 points as the Thunder led for almost the entire second half, despite Scotty Pippen Jr equalling his career-high score with 30 points for the Grizzlies, who were missing injured star guard Ja Morant.
The top seeds in the West will next face the Denver Nuggets or the Los Angeles Clippers, who are tied at 2-2 following a dramatic 101-99 win by the Nuggets.
The Clippers surged from behind to go 97-96 up – their first lead of the game – late on before tying it at 99-99 in the final seconds in Inglewood, California.

Nuggets star Nikola Jokic then missed with a second remaining, but team-mate Aaron Gordon had time to grab the rebound and beat the buzzer with a putback slam to win the game.
Game five takes place tomorrow.

Earlier, Eastern Conference top seeds the Cleveland Cavaliers demolished the Miami Heat to take a 3-0 lead in their series.
The Heat’s 124-87 defeat was their worst play-off loss in franchise history.

Jarrett Allen scored 22 points and D’Andre Hunter added 21 as six Cavs players reached double figures.
Game four takes place today.

Elsewhere, Stephen Curry scored 36 points to lift the Golden State Warriors to a 104-93 victory over the Houston Rockets, which puts the Warriors 2-1 up in the series.

They face each other again in game four today. (BBC Sport)