The China Mail - Rampant Gilgeous-Alexander fuels Thunder, Magic and Knicks win

The Thunder, trying to become the first repeat NBA champions since Golden State in 2017 and 2018, are now one win away from advancing to the Western Conference semi-finals.

But Eastern Conference top seeds Detroit fell 2-1 down to the eighth-seeded Orlando Magic, who fended off a late Pistons rally to secure a stirring 113-105 home victory.

The New York Knicks, seeded third in the East, reasserted their authority with a 114-98 victory over the Hawks in Atlanta and will head home for game five on Tuesday with their series tied at 2-2.

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 in a ruthlessly efficient shooting display.

He credited an aggressive offensive mindset from the entire team in the face of a solid Suns defense.

"I think we did a really good job tonight of playing to our identity offensively," Gilgeous-Alexander said. "Everyone was aggressive, everyone was playing within themselves and everyone was moving around the ball.

"It kept their defense as a whole, which is a really good defense, in a bind (as to) what to pick and choose."

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.

Ajay Mitchell scored 15 points and Alex Caruso added 13 off the bench for the Thunder.

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.

In Orlando, Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points each for the Magic, whose 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, the Pistons didn't score again and Orlando closed it out with a 9-0 run.

- Magnitude of moment -

Banchero added 12 rebounds and nine assists, while Bane matched the Orlando franchise 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, adding that the Magic are "looking forward" to hosting game four on Monday.

Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff, whose team comfortably topped the East with 60 wins, said it was now a matter of taking it "one game at a time.

"If we win on Monday, we take home-court advantage back," Bickerstaff said.

That's exactly what the Knicks did with their big win in Atlanta after dropping two straight games by just one point each.

Karl-Anthony Towns had his first career playoff triple-double with 20 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists.

OG Anunoby scored a game-high 22 points with 10 rebounds and Jalen Brunson added 19 points, staying in after appearing to tweak an ankle in the third quarter of a bruising contest.

"We understood the magnitude of the moment," Towns said. "It's going to take an effort like this every game if we expect to come out with a win against a team that's hungry and has a lot of athleticism, youth -- and they want the moment.

"We've got to exceed the moment."

K.Lam--ThChM