NBA playoffs: Rockets even series vs. Warriors after Jimmy Butler injury; Celtics and Cavaliers take 2-0 leads

Yahoo

05-05-2025

The NBA playoffs continued Wednesday with three Game 2s, including the Celtics taking on the Magic without Jayson Tatum, and the Warriors trying to take a 2-0 lead against the Houston Rockets.
Boston Celtics 109, Orlando Magic 100
Cleveland Cavaliers 121, Miami Heat 112
Houston Rockets 109, Golden State Warriors 94
Check out Yahoo Sports' predictions for each first-round series, in addition to Kevin O'Connor's ranking of the top 40 players in the NBA postseason.
Here are the results and key takeaways from Wednesday's games:
The Warriors entered Game 2 with an advantage, but losing Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski left them shorthanded throughout the night. The Rockets had no trouble taking advantage.
Houston maintained a double-digit lead for the entire second half, powered by Jalen Green on one of his best nights. The Rockets' leading scorer tied a Rockets playoff record with 38 points on 13-of-25 shooting, plus one of the best dunks of the playoffs.
The Warriors found some footing as the game went on, including a wild sequence in which the two teams exchanged six straight 3-pointers.
6 POSSESSIONS, 6 STRAIGHT 3PM IN WARRIORS/ROCKETS 🤯SENGUN. BUDDY. FVV. STEPH. JALEN GREEN. STEPH AGAIN. Houston leading at the break in Game 2 on TNT! pic.twitter.com/vcOe5PKASP
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2025
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET in San Francisco (ABC).
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr probably wasn't expecting to lose two starters in the first quarter, but that was the reality facing him after Butler and Podziemski left the floor.
Podziemski later came back in the third quarter, but Butler was ruled out for the rest of the game after suffering a pelvis contusion and is slated to undergo an MRI on Thursday.
With those two unavailable in the second quarter, Kerr had inserted 12 different players into the game by the time Butler's status was announced in the second quarter. That included Jonathan Kuminga, who was benched from the rotation in Game 1.
The deep bench was a mixed bag, especially with Gui Santos logging two points, two turnovers and four fouls in nine minutes.
There really is no player in today's game like Draymond Green, who delivered a vintage performance when it comes to, um, physicality.
Draymond is NOT backing down vs. Rockets 💪 pic.twitter.com/duKv0m9a2b
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 24, 2025
Tell me how you can watch this clip and come to the concluding that Draymond 'PUSHED' Amen here pic.twitter.com/yaLPj5Rtwn
— Ramon ⚔️⚡️ (@RamonIsHim) April 24, 2025
Jalen Green got hit with a Flagrant 1 after altercation with Draymond. pic.twitter.com/61CvNvLpBB
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) April 24, 2025
Draymond receives a tech after complaining to the ref 😅 (via @NBCSWarriors) pic.twitter.com/vJ54xAy4yw
— Yahoo Sports (@YahooSports) April 24, 2025
All of that culminated in Green and Fred VanVleet exchanging words face to face during a break in play and triggering a clearing of the benches. Green would have been ejected had he received another technical foul, but the officials only gave one to Tari Eason, who threw a towel that landed in Warriors guard Pat Spencer's face.
The Toyota Center crowd responded with "F*** you, Draymond!" chants.
Fred VanVleet & Draymond Green getting face to face👀Warriors vs Rockets getting chippy 🍿 pic.twitter.com/qJHkJGc2uZ
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) April 24, 2025
Now we have a series. More FU Draymond chants pic.twitter.com/6Iu2fVStG0
— Lachard Binkley (@BinkleyHoops) April 24, 2025
Kerr thought Rockets fans could have been a little more subtle.
Steve Kerr says he will always ride with a competitor like Draymond Green. Kerr would prefer the fans use a little more discretion than chanting, 'F—- you Draymond!' Kerr says Green is a father with kids watching.
— Ohm Youngmisuk (@NotoriousOHM) April 24, 2025
— Jack Baer
The Celtics ruled Tatum out for Game 2 hours before tip-off, and their backup plan was a big night for Jaylen Brown.
As Tatum watched from the bench in a golf shirt and wrist brace, his longtime co-star led Boston to another runaway win to move up 2-0 in their series against the Magic. Brown finished with 36 points on 12-of-19 shooting, with 10 rebounds and five assists.
JAYLEN BROWN TAKING OVER 😤 pic.twitter.com/vBGdmEs46v
— NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) April 24, 2025
It wasn't the Celtics' most dominant night, but it certainly showed they can push teams around without Tatum in the first missed playoff game of his career.
Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Orlando (ESPN).
Goga Bitadze made Porziņģis bleed his own blood, to put it mildly.
A wild elbow from the Magic center in the third quarter left the Celtics big man with a massive, bloody gash on his forehead. Porziņģis immediately ran for the locker room and soon returned with an enormous bandage on his head — and a smile.
Kristaps Porzingis is a bloody mess but has a big smile pic.twitter.com/uEQnuVMZgE
— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) April 24, 2025
The play was reviewed and deemed a Flagrant 1 on Bitadze. Porziņģis had to shoot the free throws or miss the rest of the game, so he rushed back to attempt them and was immediately subbed out after.
Porziņģis went back to the locker room after that and returned in the fourth with a smaller bandage to big cheers from the crowd. He finished the game with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.
Magic wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope entered the court to a chorus of boos from the TD Garden crowd after his foul in Game 1 knocked Tatum out for Wednesday. He didn't bother trying to endear himself to the masses over the next 48 minutes.
Caldwell-Pope further antagonized the crowd early in the game and later sparked a confrontation when he ran into Al Horford in transition. Brown had some words for him in the aftermath.
Al Horford is heated after getting tripped by KCP pic.twitter.com/FKar1E4ps4
— Danielle Hobeika (@DanielleHobeika) April 23, 2025
Of course, KCP didn't do much to endear himself to Magic fans either. He finished with three points on 1-of-9 shooting.
We're just checking, but when a player reaches over an opponent with enough weight that the opponent bends over at the waist, then gets the ball and throws up a shot with one of his arms tangled with said opponent, is it a foul on that player or the opponent?
In the case of Porziņģis and Wendell Carter, it was a foul on Carter, a.k.a. the player who didn't obviously go over the back. We're not sure what the officials saw here and neither was Carter.
Kristaps Porzingis rides on Wendell Carter Jr. for the offensive board, and Carter is get called for his 3rd personal foul.Carter cannot believe it. pic.twitter.com/5tsqFDcrCh
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) April 24, 2025
That foul wound up being rather significant. It was Carter's third of the game, when the Magic were behind only two right before halftime. Carter was back out there to open the second half, but recorded only two rebounds and a turnover in the entire third quarter.
The Celtics expanded their lead to double digits during that period.
— Jack Baer
Cleveland's offense is scary good. When it's shooting like this, good luck.
The Cavaliers went on a 3-point shooting spree in the second quarter Wednesday night to spark a Game 2 win over the Miami Heat. The barrage built a 17-point Cavaliers lead that they needed every bit of to fend off a late Heat rally.
The top-seeded Cavaliers now have a 2-0 series lead after two wins at home.
Miami kept things close early as Cleveland took a 25-24 lead into the second quarter before the floodgates opened. Cleveland scored 25 points in the first 5:54 of the second quarter en route to a 68-51 halftime lead.
Cleveland connected on 11 3s during the second quarter, which is the most in a playoff game in a single quarter since the NBA started keeping track of play-by-play in the 1997-98 season.
For fun — unless you're a Heat fan — here's a look at all 11.
EVERY TRIPLE FROM CLEVELAND'S RECORD-BREAKING QUARTER 🔥🔥The first team since 1997-98 with 11+ 3PM in a single playoff quarter!!!!#NBAPlayoffs presented by Google https://t.co/zxtvRbXkL8 pic.twitter.com/YAxGeUdhjE
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2025
In total, the Cavaliers connected on 14-of-23 (60.9%) first half 3-pointers. It was a team effort. Eight different Cavaliers hit at least one 3-pointer in the first half. Four of them hit two or more, led by Max Strus' 4-for-6 effort.
Cleveland didn't keep up the pace after halftime. It didn't have to. A 17-point halftime cushion was enough to fend off the Heat, who cut things as close as 103-101 in the fourth quarter.
The Cavaliers are an offensive powerhouse that posted the NBA's best offensive rating during the regular season. They finished the night shooting 22-of-45 (48.9%) from 3. Donovan Mitchell led the Cavs with 30 points, including 20 after halftime, while shooting 7-of-10 from 3.
When the Cavs are shooting like this, they're going to be very difficult to beat.
Heat coach Erik Spoelstra adjusted the starting lineup after a 121-100 Game 1 loss. Out was Alec Burks, who didn't see the court in Game 2. In was play-in hero and 3-and-D spark Davion Mitchell.
The move made sense. And it almost paid off. Mitchell's a lockdown perimeter defender, and Cleveland's guards torched Miami in Game 1.
Mitchell made an impact Wednesday night. He finished with 18 points, six assists and a steal. He helped spark a 13-2 run in the fourth quarter that cut Cleveland's lead to 101-99 with a pair of 3-pointers and that steal.
Davion's triple cuts it to a 6-point game 👀Tune in on FanDuel Sports Network & NBA TV 📺 pic.twitter.com/BQiY61Jcfy
— Miami HEAT (@MiamiHEAT) April 24, 2025
In the end, Cleveland found another offensive surge to counter the Miami rally and secure the win. But expect Mitchell to continue to play a significant role for the Heat as the series shifts to Miami.
Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on TNT.
- Jason Owens