EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsPHOENIX -- The Oklahoma City Thunder opened these playoffs in similar fashion to last season's championship run, sweeping their first-round series.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."It is a really good feeling," Thunder superstar Shai Gilgeous-Alexander said after scoring 31 points and dishing out eight assists in Monday's series-ending 131-122 win over the Phoenix Suns. "Just confidence-wise 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."Oklahoma City advances to play the winner of the Houston Rockets-Los Angeles Lakers series in the West semifinals. The Lakers have a 3-1 lead and can clinch with a home win Wednesday in Game 5.The Thunder came within one point in Game 4 of becoming the fourth defending champion in NBA history to sweep the first round with all double-digit victories. Gilgeous-Alexander averaged 33.8 points and 8.0 assists in the series, and he was one of six Oklahoma City players to score in double figures during Game 4, including Chet Holmgren with 24 points and Ajay Mitchell with 22."He's the MVP of the league, and he's playing the best basketball in the league for the past two years," Suns star Devin Booker said of Gilgeous-Alexander. "That's mixed with guys that know their roles, some seasoned vets, and they're relentless. With that chemistry, the communication, it's on 100 percent. And when the bench comes in, they get better sometimes. It's like reinforcement, not subs. They have all the answers to the test."Gilgeous-Alexander cited the Thunder's "respect level" for the Suns as a prerequisite for being able to complete the sweep."We know how good of a team they were and how capable they are as players," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "They play the right way. They play aggressive. ... They're a dangerous team if you let them be."It was a sour ending to a season that Booker, the face of the franchise who has spent all 11 seasons of his career in Phoenix, referred to as a "steppingstone" for the Suns.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, 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 to finish with a 45-37 record under rookie head coach Jordan Ott."We're supposed to be a laughingstock, a losing team, from all media and whoever else said it," said Suns forward Dillon Brooks, who arrived in Phoenix as part of the Durant trade. "We proved a lot of people wrong, and that's just because we had heart. We came together, we played with each other and we believed in each other. So even though it sucks that you get swept in the playoffs by a great team, it doesn't go against our season and what we're building here."Booker credited Ott with helping instill a competitive culture that he described as the foundation for Phoenix, a sentiment Daigneault emphasized while expressing his respect for the Suns."I think we brought a new life," Booker said. "After not making the playoffs last year, we saw everybody else's expectation. But [that was] not ours. We still have some learning to do. This was a great test for us."
