OKC Thunder Sweep Suns, Punches Ticket to 2nd Round of NBA Playoffs

The Oklahoma City Thunder have swept the Phoenix Suns and punched their ticket to the second round of the NBA Playoffs.

Apr 27, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (2) celebrates a three point shot against Phoenix Suns guard Collin Gillespie (12) in the first half during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Oklahoma City entered Monday night with a chance to pull off their third straight sweep of a first round matchup to start the 2026 NBA Playoffs. The Thunder made quick work of the Memphis Grizzlies a year ago and brought out the brooms on bourbon street in 2024 against the New Orleans Pelicans.

Up 3-0 against the Phoenix Suns, the OKC Thunder looked to close out this series on the road in the Mortage Matchup Center. The Bricktown Ballers would have to do so down All-NBA swingman Jalen Williams, the team's No. 2 scoring option. He suffered a left hamstring strain in the second half of Game 2 of this opening round series.

The Oklahoma City Thunder blew out the Suns in the first three games of this best-of-seven set, most recently a 121-109 beat down of Phoenix in Saturday's Game 3 tilt.

Game 4 was do-or-die for the Suns, who by every account had a better than expected season that was on the verge of coming to a lackluster ending, failing to win a single playoff game after dropping the No. 7 vs. No. 8 play-in game to the Portland Trail Blazers two weeks ago.

The OKC Thunder earned the Suns best punch in this potential series deciding game. Phoenix shot 59% from the floor, 55% from beyond the arc and 75% from the charity stripe in the first half to the tune of 67 points. 11 of those points came on second chance tries while the Suns also shrunk what has been a wide points in the paint margin to just six in the first half.

Though Shai Gilgeous-Alexander would not be denied. After the Thunder fell into a bit of a lull midway through the second quarter, the Thunder superstar knocked in a triple and two mid-range jumpers to start to heat up. That momentum carried into the third quarter where he snaked around Suns defenders off a high ball screen to get to the paint for the and-1 and tally 22 points in 24 minutes of work on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor.

Gilgeous-Alexander helped the Thunder swell their third quarter lead to 11 points with 6:59 to go in the frame. Isaiah Hartenstein's activity on the glass in the third rebounding his own missed free throw to get back to the line and putting back a missed Ajay Mitchell lay up combined with Chet Holmgren's fantastic play finishing night allowed Oklahoma City's lead to balloon to 15. The end was near on the Suns season.

Though, Phoenix injected life back into this game and the crowd as the Suns went on an 8-0 run in the blink of an eye to trim the lead down to seven.

Alex Caruso poured in his fourth triple of the game off the bench to stead things for Oklahoma City after that frisky Phoenix run. The Thunder end the opening frame up eight with just 12 minutes standing in the way of another sweep.

Without Gilgeous-Alexander on the floor, Oklahoma City grew its lead to 12. That was more than enough margin on the score board for the reigning MVP to close out the Phoenix Suns on the road and lead the Thunder to its third straight sweep in the first round of the NBA Playoffs.

Mark Daigneault has yet to lose a first round game in his NBA career. The Oklahoma City Thunder now await the winner of the Los Angeles Lakers vs. Houston Rockets series in the No. 4 vs. No. 5 seeded matchup. Game 1 will be in Oklahoma City as early as Sunday and at the latest by the May 4.