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

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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.

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.

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Here are the results and key takeaways from Wednesday’s games:

Rockets 109, Warriors 94

The Warriors entered Game 2 with an advantage, but losing Jimmy Butler and Brandin Podziemski left them shorthanded throughout the nights. 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.

Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 8:30 p.m. ET in San Francisco (ABC).

Warriors dig deep into bench with Jimmy Butler, Brandin Podziemski injuries

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.

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Podziemski later came back in the third quarter, but Butler was ruled out for the rest of the game 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.

This game got chippy, and you’ll never forget who was at the center of it

There really is no player in today’s game like Draymond Green, who delivered a vintage performance when it comes to, um, physicality.

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 got into Green’s face in the disorder.

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The Toyota Center crowd responded with “F*** you Draymond” chants.

– Jack Baer

Celtics 109, Magic 100

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.

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.

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Game 3 is scheduled for Friday at 7 p.m. ET in Orlando (ESPN).

Kristaps Porziņģis exits, immediately returns after bloody gash to head

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.

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.

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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.

Take Kentavious Caldwell-Pope off Boston’s Christmas card list

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.

Of course, KCP didn’t do much to endear himself to Magic fans either. He finished with three points on 1-of-9 shooting.

One call had a big impact on the game

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?

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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.

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

Cavaliers 121, Heat 112

Cleveland’s offense is scary good. When it’s shooting like this, good luck.

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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.

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For fun — unless you’re a Heat fan — here’s a look at all 11.

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.

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When the Cavs are shooting like this, they’re going to be very difficult to beat.

Davion Mitchell makes a difference, but not enough

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.

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.

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Game 3 is scheduled for Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on TNT.

– Jason Owens

This news was originally published on this post .

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