Lakers one game from exit as Thunder and Cavs win

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the reigning MVP in the NBA The Oklahoma City Thunder moved to the brink of another Western Conference Finals appearance with a dominant 131-108 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers to take a commanding lead in the play-offs. The Lakers now face the daunting task of needing to become the first team in NBA history to overturn a 3-0 deficit. , external Shai Gilgeous-Alexander played his part for the top-seeded Thunder with 23 points and nine assists, but team-mate Ajay Mitchell was generally more accurate in his shooting and added 24 points and 10 assists.

The Lakers had 19 points from 41-year-old LeBron James, but he was not at his best as a team that again competed without the injured Luka Doncic proved unable to stem the tide in a one-sided series. The Thunder were NBA champions last year and look the team to beat once more. Gilgeous-Alexander had his highest-scoring game of the series despite missing nine of his first 11 shots.

His form in the play-offs has been down on his return in the regular season, when he averaged 31. 1 points per game. "Obviously, I haven't been my best in performances, but I think I've been able to help the team win and that's most important," said Gilgeous-Alexander.

"As long as we win. If the rest of the play-off run or the rest of my career look like what it looked like the past few games, I'd be OK with it because we won games. " In the Eastern Conference, Donovan Mitchell produced a 35-point performance to lead the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 116-109 win over the Detroit Pistons.