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 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 after a hard fall on a foul late in the first quarter.

Green 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.

Game 2 is Saturday night at Golden State.

Stephen Curry had 20 points and nine assists for the Warriors and became 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 ½ minutes remaining. Draymond Green received a technical foul in that stretch for arguing with officials and Tari Eason received one for throwing a towel in an “unsportsmanlike manner.”

PLAYOFF JG HAS ARRIVED @JalenGreen | #Liftoff pic.twitter.com/600foewGO8

— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 24, 2025

Cavaliers hold off Heat

Donovan Mitchell scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter, and the Cleveland Cavaliers held on for a 121-112 victory over the Miami Heat to take 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 the Heat.

Tyler Herro scored 33 points for Miami, which hosts Game 3 on Saturday afternoon.

The Cavaliers had a 19-point lead with under 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter before the Heat made their run to get within 105-103 lead with 3:11 left.

Mitchell, who also had six rebounds and six assists, then took over. He scored Cleveland's next eight points, including a pair of 3-pointers, during an 8-2 run to give them some breathing room.

Evan Mobley had 20 points and Darius Garland 19 for the Cavaliers.

Cleveland held a 33-30 lead before taking control with a 17-4 run that included five 3s, with two apiece by Max Strus and Sam Merrill.

De'Andre Hunter's dunk with 2:33 remaining in the third gave the Cavaliers a 93-74 advantage before the Heat reeled off 10 straight points. That started a 25-8 run that saw Miami get within a basket. Davion Mitchell had 12 of his 18 points during the rally, with five points apiece by Herro and Nikola Jovic.

GOODNIGHT CLEVELAND! #LetEmKnow pic.twitter.com/WMXecPJ0SZ

— Cleveland Cavaliers (@cavs) April 24, 2025

Brown’s big game propels Celtics

Jaylen Brown had 36 points and 10 rebounds, Kristaps Porzingis returned after getting a bloody gash on his forehead and finished with 20 points, and the Boston Celtics beat the Orlando Magic 109-100 in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series.

Boston took a 2-0 series lead while playing without All-Star Jayson 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 and Franz Wagner scored 25 points.

Game 3 is Friday night at Orlando.

Tatum had not missed a playoff game in his eight seasons with Boston. He injured his wrist in Game 1 after landing awkwardly following a flagrant foul by Kentavious Caldwell-Pope.

Porzingis went to the locker room with a gash on his forehead in the third quarter but returned in time to shoot a pair of free throws after taking an elbow from Goga Bitadze. The play was reviewed and upgraded to a flagrant foul on Bitadze

During the review, Porzingis emerged to a loud ovation, with dried blood streaking down the back of his head and a bandage in the center of his forehead. He re-entered the game and connected on one of his two free throws before exiting again.

He returned to the bench area midway through the period and came back into the game with 7:15 left.

Good night pic.twitter.com/hBxZaqEHRX

— Boston Celtics (@celtics) April 24, 2025