The China Mail - Rampant Gilgeous-Alexander fuels Thunder win, Magic hold off Pistons

Gilgeous-Alexander, the reigning NBA Most Valuable Player and a finalist for this year's MVP, connected on 15-of-18 shots from the floor on the way to a career-playoff high.

"(I was) just trying to let the game come to me, use my teammates out there as weapons," Gilgeous-Alexander told broadcaster NBC after the defending champion Thunder moved within one win of advancing to the Western Conference semi-finals.

"I know they're going to try to make it tough on me, make me play in the crowd," added Gilgeous-Alexander, who made 11-of-12 free throw attempts. "The guys did a great job of just playing outside of that tonight ... we looked pretty good out there."

Gilgeous-Alexander made his first nine shots before his first miss midway through the third quarter. He corralled the rebound from that missed three-pointer and stepped in to make a mid-range jumper.

Dillon Brooks scored 33 points for the Suns, who grabbed an early nine-point lead and kept it close in the second quarter but couldn't find a way to stop Gilgeous-Alexander down the stretch.

"We just stuck with it," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "We did a good job of just staying true to who we are through the adversity, through the crowd, through a really good team on the road."

Ajay Mitchell scored 15 points and Alex Caruso added 13 off the bench for the Thunder, who are trying to become the first repeat champions since Golden State in 2017 and 2018.

They'll try to polish off a sweep in the best-of-seven series on Monday in Phoenix, where the Suns will be painfully aware that no NBA team has rallied from 0-3 down to win a playoff series.

- Magic stymie Pistons -

In Orlando, the Magic fended off a late rally by the Eastern Conference's top-seeded Detroit Pistons to take a surprise 2-1 lead in their series.

Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points each as the eighth-seeded Magic pulled off a stirring 113-105 win in front of their home crowd.

Victory had briefly seemed in doubt after Orlando's 17-point fourth-quarter lead was erased in a powerful late showing by Cade Cunningham, who led all scorers with 27 points.

But having nudged into a single-point lead with three minutes remaining, Detroit did not score again and Orlando closed out the win with a 9-0 run.

With barely 30 seconds remaining, Banchero's three-point effort bounced off the heel of the rim, looped up in the air and dropped straight through the net to seal the win.

Banchero added 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Bane matched the Orlando playoff record with seven three-pointers.

"We know how we stack up. We know what we got in this locker room. And so we don't fear them," Banchero said.

The Magic try to extend their lead when they host game four on Monday.

The Pistons comfortably topped the East with a 60-22 regular season record but now need to win three of the four possible remaining games to avoid elimination.

E.Choi--ThChM