Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 34 points in three quarters, and the Thunder set league and team records in a 149-106 win over the Nuggets on Wednesday night in Oklahoma City that tied the Western Conference semifinal series at one game apiece.

The Thunder set an NBA playoff record for first-half points with 87, surpassing the 86 scored by the Cavaliers against the Warriors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on June 9, 2017.

Chet Holmgren, who missed two critical free throws late in Game 1, made a pair with one second remaining in the second quarter to set the record and give the Thunder an 87-56 lead.

The Thunder tied the record for points in any half of a playoff game. The Bucks had 87 in the second half against the Nuggets on April 23, 1978.

“Basically it was one team playing tonight,” Nuggets center Nikola Jokic said.

The top-seeded Thunder wanted to avoid taking a 2-0 deficit on the road. Game 3 is Friday in Denver.

“We knew what was at stake tonight,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “We came out desperate. We wanted to just take care and control the things that we knew we could. And we did a pretty good job of that, specifically to start the game.

“The start carried us through the rest of the night.”

Gilgeous-Alexander made 11 of 13 field goals, all 11 of his free throws and had eight assists. He led eight players who scored in double figures.

Thunder coach Mark Daigneault said Gilgeous-Alexander did much more than score.

“He made them pay when they overhelped on him,” Daigneault said. “He had the ball ahead of them all night, so he got his teammates shots, too. It wasn’t just a one-man show. He was super efficient. I mean, he had an unbelievable blend tonight.”

Jokic, who had 42 points and 22 rebounds in a Game 1 win, had just 17 points and eight rebounds on Wednesday before fouling out late in the third quarter.

Russell Westbrook led the fourth-seeded Nuggets with 19 points.

“We got punked, and we didn’t play well enough and they came out with the right intensity,” Nuggets interim coach David Adelman said. “We didn’t.”

The Thunder led 124-76 after three quarters. The largest lead was 49 points.

Another comeback: Mikal Bridges scored all of his 14 points in the fourth quarter before making his second straight game-clinching steal, and the third-seeded Knicks overcame a 20-point deficit again to beat the second-seeded Celtics 91-90 on Wednesday night in Boston for a 2-0 lead in the Eastern Conference semifinal series.

Jalen Brunson scored 17 points for the Knicks.

No fine for Haliburton: Tyrese Haliburton did the dance. He will not pay a fine.

Haliburton, the Pacers guard who expected to be fined for his dancing celebration after Game 2 of his team’s road win against the Cavaliers in the East semifinals on Tuesday night, received only a warning from the league office instead.