The average age is 23.9 years old. But the Oklahoma City Thunder are the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference of the National Basketball Association (NBA) this season. They are the youngest No. 1 seeded team since 1984, when the two-conference playoffs were seeded as high as eight.

They’ve been fueled by youthful fire and have yet to lose a game in the playoffs. Even against the formidable Dallas Mavericks, 바카라사이트 they got off to a flying start with a sweep in the first round.

Oklahoma City got off to a flying start with a 117-95, 22-point victory over Dallas in Game 1 of the best-of-seven 2023-2024 NBA Western Conference semifinals at the Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, on Monday. They rode the momentum of sending the New Orleans Pelicans home in four games in the first round to win their fifth straight playoff game.

Boasting the potent one-two punch of Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving, Dallas entered the playoffs in fifth place in the Western Conference this season and advanced to the semifinals with a four-game sweep of the fourth-place Los Angeles Clippers. While Doncic’s knee injury has taken a toll on his shooting, Irving has more than made up for it.

As expected, the game was tightly contested until midway through the third quarter. However, Oklahoma City quickly pulled away from Dallas, who had only scored four points in the period, starting with a Chet Holmgren three-pointer with 5:19 left in the quarter to take a 74-69 lead, followed by two three-pointers from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and one from Isaiah Thomas.

Oklahoma City, which ended the third quarter down 89-79 and by 10 points, took a 96-87 lead with 8:11 left in the fourth quarter when Jaylen Williams scored eight straight points, including two 3-pointers, to push the lead to 104-87, a 17-point advantage.

Gillespie-Alexander led the way with a triple-double of 29 points, nine rebounds and nine assists, followed by Holmgren with 19 points and seven rebounds and Williams with 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. Dallas struggled offensively across the board, with the one-two punch of Doncic (19 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds) and Irving (20 points) combining for just 39 points.