Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on Wednesday scored 34 points in three quarters as the Oklahoma City Thunder set NBA and team records in their 149-106 win over the Denver Nuggets, which tied the NBA Western Conference semi-final series at one game apiece.
Oklahoma City set an NBA Playoffs record for first-half points with 87, surpassing the 86 scored by the Cleveland Cavaliers against the Golden State 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 Milwaukee Bucks had 87 in the second half against Denver on April 23, 1978.
Photo: Alonzo Adams / Imagn Images
“Basically it was one team playing tonight,” Denver center Nikola Jokic said.
The top-seeded Thunder wanted to avoid taking a 2-0 deficit on the road. Oklahoma City became the first home team to win a game in the second round.
“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.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
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 Game 1, had just 17 points and eight rebounds on Wednesday before fouling out late in the third quarter.
Russell Westbrook led the Nuggets with 19 points.
“We got punked, and we didn’t play well enough and they came out with the right intensity,” Denver interim coach David Adelman said. “We didn’t.”
In Boston, the Knicks rallied from 20 points down to snatch a 91-90 victory over the Boston Celtics.
After erasing a 20-point deficit in a gritty overtime triumph in Game 1, the Knicks authored another epic comeback to take a 2-0 lead over the defending NBA champions in their best-of-seven Eastern Conference semi-final series.
Mikal Bridges scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter for the Knicks and came up with a steal as Boston’s Jayson Tatum drove for a potential game-winning basket in the waning seconds.
Josh Hart led the Knicks with 23 points, while Karl-Anthony Towns added 21 points and 17 rebounds.
Jalen Brunson scored 17 points and delivered again when it mattered. His fadeaway jumper with 1 minute, 59 seconds to play gave New York their first lead of the game at 87-86.
After Tatum raced the length of the court for a dunk that put the Celtics up 90-89 with 18.5 seconds left, Brunson drilled a pair of free throws to put the Knicks back on top.
“I’m just happy we found a way to win,” Brunson told broadcaster TNT. “That’s some wild stuff right there.”
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