The Thunder brought its brooms to Beale Street.
Oklahoma City beat Memphis 117-115 Saturday afternoon to sweep the first-round NBA playoff series.
It’s OKC’s second first-round sweep in as many years.
Let’s get to the Game 4 grades.
Alex Caruso: B+
Caruso might have been the MVP of this series. Memphis ballhandlers were in imminent danger whenever he was on the court. Game 4 was more of the same.
Caruso bullied Jaren Jackson Jr. — a matchup Jackson had no business losing given his significant size advantage over Caruso.
Caruso had six points, five assists, three rebounds, two steals and a block. And handfuls of hustle plays.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: A
We saw the MVP version of SGA for the first time this series.
Gilgeous-Alexander was a perfect 7-of-7 in the first quarter with 16 points, three assists and no turnovers. All seven of his attempts were from inside the arc.
SGA finished with a game-high 38 points on 13-of-24 shooting. It was the first time he shot north of 50% in the series.
Thunder 3-point shooting: F
The Thunder was off target all afternoon from behind the arc.
OKC shot 7-of-35 (20%) from 3-point range. The seven 3-point makes tied a season-low. And only once did the Thunder have a worse 3-point percentage.
Isaiah Joe had three of the Thunder’s triples, including a big one early in the fourth quarter that came in response to a Grizzlies 3.
Joe led the Thunder’s bench with 11 points.
Defending Desmond Bane: A
Desmond Bane did not have a good Game 4. Or a good series.
The third piece of Memphis’ Big Three shot 7-of-20 from the field Saturday. He was 2-of-8 from 3-point range in Game 4 and 7-of-32 (22%) for the series.
Not what you need from a career 41% 3-point shooter.
Mark Daigneault challenges: A+
Mark Daigneault’s first challenge led to three free throws for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just before halftime.
Daigneault’s second challenge, late in the fourth quarter, resulted in Zach Edey’s sixth foul and two free throws for Alex Caruso.
We’ll count that as a plus-five for Daigneault, who now has a 10-4 record in the playoffs.
Defending Jaren Jackson Jr.: A+
Jaren Jackson Jr. might make an All-NBA team. And if he does, he’ll have deserved it. It’s a regular-season award, and Jackson had an excellent regular season. He was Memphis’ best player, and certainly its most reliable one.
But JJJ looked awfully limited in this series. It’s like he forgot how tall he was.
He’s 6-foot-10, by the way, but didn’t play like it. Alex Caruso, giving up five inches against Jackson, gave Jackson fits. Jackson played more like a wing than a big.
Jackson had 12 points Saturday, and more alarmingly, only four rebounds in the elimination game. The Thunder made things tough on Jackson, but Jackson’s lack of assertiveness made things easy on the Thunder.
Scotty Pippen Jr.: A
He looks like a player.
With Ja Morant (hip) out, it was Pippen — not Jaren Jackson Jr. or Desmond Bane — who stepped up for the Grizzlies.
Pippen led the Grizzlies in points (30) and rebounds (11) while adding four assists.
Pippen is set to make under $3 million in each of the next three seasons. He could be one of the better values in the league.
Closing out the closeout game: C-
The Thunder led by 12 with 3:37 to go. Memphis went on a 10-0 run over the next minute to set up a frantic back-and-forth finish.
Chet Holmgren had the clutch play down the stretch. He stripped Scotty Pippen Jr. under the basket, and Pippen responded with a silly foul — his sixth of the game.
Holmgren went to the free throw line and made both of his free throws to give the Thunder a four-point lead with 1:01 left.
A Vince Williams Jr. 3-pointer made it a one-possession game with 35 seconds left, but Shai Gilgeous-Alexander responded with a pretty 22-foot stepback. It looked like the dagger, but Desmond Bane splashed a 3-pointer with eight seconds left to cut OKC’s lead to two points.
After Jalen Williams went 1-of-2 from the free throw line, the Thunder fouled Memphis, not allowing the Grizzlies a chance to tie the game with a three.
Joe Mussatto is a sports columnist for The Oklahoman. Have a story idea for Joe? Email him at jmussatto@oklahoman.com. Support Joe’s work and that of other Oklahoman journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today at subscribe.oklahoman.com.
This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Thunder-Grizzlies grades: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, OKC sweep Memphis