Boston, without top scorer Tatum, were pushed by Miami while Houston levelled their series with Golden State Warriors.
Bloodied and bruised, defending champions Boston Celtics have outlasted Orlando to seize command of their NBA playoff series while the Cleveland Cavaliers maintained their series lead over Miami Heat.
Jaylen Brown scored a game-high 36 points as the Celtics overcame the absence of leading scorer Jayson Tatum to beat the visiting Magic 109-100 on Wednesday in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.
Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points and 10 rebounds for the second-seeded Celtics, who have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.
“He’s been great and consistent throughout the season,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said about Brown. “He can take it to another level mentally and physically, and he did that for his team tonight. At the end of the day, he’s willing to do whatever it takes for us to win.”
Orlando used an 8-0 run to pull within five points early in the fourth quarter, but the Magic never got any closer.
“I thought we played with a lot of heart, a lot of character,” said Magic forward Franz Wagner. “We made a bunch of runs in the game.”
Tatum, who averaged 26.8 points per game during the regular season, didn’t play in Game 2 because of a bone bruise. He was knocked to the floor while driving to the basket in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 103-86 Game 1 win on Sunday. Tatum returned to the game but was listed as “doubtful” for Game 2 before the team’s final injury report officially ruled him out.
Derrick White (17), Payton Pritchard (14) and Jrue Holiday (11) also scored in double figures for the Celtics.
The series shifts to Orlando for Game 3, which will be played on Friday.
“It doesn’t become a series until the home team loses …” said Magic coach Jamahl Mosley. “Our crowd is one of the best in the league. That energy is something we’re gonna need.”
In the other games, East top seed Cleveland held off visiting Miami 121-112 as Donovan Mitchell scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Cavs took a 2-0 series edge with game three on Saturday in Miami.
At Houston, Jalen Green scored 38 points and the hosts Rockets beat Golden State Warriors 109-94 to level their Western Conference series at 1-1 with game three in San Francisco on Saturday.
Making the night more painful for the seventh-seeded Warriors was losing Jimmy Butler III to a pelvic contusion late in the first quarter. He missed the remainder of the game and was headed for an MRI exam.
“Jimmy always says he’s going to be fine,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. “But we have to wait and see with the MRI.”
Second-seeded Houston never trailed, building a lead of as many as 20 points in the second half and answering every Golden State rally effort.
“Houston played great,” said Kerr. “They were really physical. They came out with a lot of force defensively. … It was their night. They played a great game on both ends of the floor.”
Without the versatile Butler on the floor, Golden State relied heavily on its 3-point shooting and went 17-for-43 (39.5 percent) from long range. Coupled with a poor 11-of-18 effort at the free-throw line, Golden State could not muster enough offence.
Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 20 points. Turkish star Alperen Sengun added 17 points and 16 rebounds for Houston.
🏆 PLAYOFF BRACKET 🏆
▪️ CLE, BOS extend series lead to 2-0
▪️ HOU ties series 1-1The #NBAPlayoffs presented by Google continue Thursday as Game 3’s begin with 3 games on TNT & NBA TV! pic.twitter.com/NKBLtwy8P3
— NBA (@NBA) April 24, 2025
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