2 weeks Ago By Associated Press
HOUSTON — Jalen Green made eight 3-pointers and scored 38 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 109-94 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night (Thursday, April 24, 2025, PH time) in a testy matchup to even the first-round Western Conference series at one game apiece. The seventh-seeded Warriors never led and played short-handed for most of the night after Jimmy Butler left with a pelvis contusion following a hard fall on a foul late in the first quarter. Green, the No.
2 pick in the 2021 draft, rebounded from a flop in his playoff debut, when he scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, with a dominant Game 2. His eight 3-pointers were two more than the No. 2-seeded Rockets made on 6-of-29 shooting in a 95-85 Game 1 loss.
Alperen Sengun had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets. Tari Eason had 14 points off the bench. Stephen Curry had 20 points and nine assists for the Warriors and become the 11th player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career playoff points with 4,017.
Houston led by 20 with about 10 minutes left before the Warriors used a 9-0 run, with two 3s from Quinten Post, to get within 11. Jalen Green was called for a flagrant foul on Draymond Green at the end of that run after he flailed an arm into his face. The Rockets then used an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by a step-back 3 from Green, to extend the lead to 99-80 with 5 1⁄2 minutes remaining.
Draymond Green received a technical foul in that stretch for arguing with officials and Eason received one for throwing a towel in an “unsportsmanlike manner.” The loss of Butler, acquired from Miami in a February trade, was a huge blow to the Warriors after he had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the series opener. On top of Butler’s injury, the Warriors were also hampered by Brandin Podziemski’s stomach ailment.
He missed most of the first half dealing with the problem and was scoreless in 14 minutes after scoring 14 points in Game 1. Cavaliers 121, Heat 112 CLEVELAND — Donovan Mitchell scored 30 points, including 17 in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 121-112 victory over the Miami Heat for a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference first- round series. The top-seeded Cavaliers set an NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers in the second quarter and had 22 for the game.
However, Cleveland had to hold off a second-half charge by Miami. Tyler Herro scored 33 points for Miami. Celtics 109, Magic 100 BOSTON — Jaylen Brown had 36 points, 10 rebounds, and five assists, Kristaps Porzingis returned to the game after getting a bloody gash to the forehead and finished with 20 points, and the Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 109-100.
Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without Tatum, who has a bone bruise in his right wrist and missed a playoff game for the first time in his career. Boston led by 15 points in the second half, then held off a late push by Orlando. The Celtics hit 12 3-pointers and went 25 of 33 from the free-throw line.
Derrick White and Brown had 17 of Boston’s 28 points in the final period. White finished with 17. Paolo Banchero led the Magic with 32 points and nine rebounds.
Franz Wagner scored 25 points. / AP.
