The Thunder Seal Pelicans march on while the Celtics teeter on the brink

The Oklahoma City Thunder secured a 4-0 series win over the New Orleans Pelicans on Monday to secure their spot in the second round of the NBA playoffs, while Boston dominated Miami and moved to the brink of the conference semifinals.

The Western Conference's top seed, Oklahoma City, finally prevailed with a late fourth-quarter score against New Orleans to complete a 97-89 road win in Louisiana.

The Pelicans led by five points with just over eight minutes left before Oklahoma City responded with an 18-2 run to secure the victory in a closely contested game in which the lead changed 19 times.

Jalen Williams and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander led the Thunder with 24 points each, while Chet Holmgren and Josh Giddey each had 14 points and Luguentz Dort had 11 points.

It was the Thunder's first playoff series win since 2016 and puts them in line for a Western Conference semifinal against the Los Angeles Clippers or Dallas Mavericks.

“That was probably our toughest game,” Williams said afterwards. “We didn’t make any shots, but I think defensively we came out on top down the stretch.”

“We all go through thick and thin together, through the ups and downs of the season. We persevered together and now you can see the result.”

– Boston extinguishes heat –

Elsewhere on Monday, Derrick White scored 38 points as the top-seeded Boston Celtics dominated Miami 102-88 on the road to take a commanding 3-1 lead in their best-of-seven series.

After a 20-point win over Miami in Game 3 on Saturday, Boston picked up where it left off with another convincing performance against last season's Eastern Conference champions.

White set the tone for Boston with an electrifying first-quarter performance, scoring 16 points in the first frame – including four three-pointers – to help the Celtics take a 10-point lead heading into the second quarter.

Boston kept up the pressure and took a 53-36 halftime lead.

The Celtics extended the lead to 28 points at one point in the third quarter, and although Miami rallied in the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 13 points with just over five minutes left, Boston's lead never appeared to be in serious jeopardy.

The win means the Celtics can secure their place in the second round with a win in Game 5 on Wednesday in Boston, where they will face either Orlando or Cleveland.

Based on Monday's evidence, few would bet on Boston finishing the series quickly.

“I hit some shots early and that always helps,” White said of his career-best playoff performance.

“Once you make a pair, the basket looks huge. I just wanted to be aggressive and try to make the right play every time I was on the court.”

White insisted Boston would take nothing for granted as they tried to close out the series in front of their home fans.

“It will be a difficult fifth game. We know they won’t be eliminated, so we have to be ready,” White said.

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