Category: Basketball

Warriors-Rockets series resembles old-school NBA war of attrition originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

HOUSTON – The longer the Warriors and Houston Rockets duke it out in the first round of the NBA playoffs, the more this is going to turn into a war of attrition. After Wednesday night, each team has one battle won under their belt, with the Warriors taking Game 1 and the Rockets winning Game 2 wire to wire with a final score of 109-94. 

Desperation was felt from the start. The Rockets weren’t going to let the Warriors board a flight back home comfortably. That strategy reached the lengths of Warriors star Jimmy Butler’s night ending after eight minutes, limping back to the locker room with what was deemed a pelvis contusion from a frightening fall to the hardwood featuring him and Rockets forward Amen Thompson. 

No technical fouls or flagrant fouls were called Sunday in Game 1. That wasn’t the case two nights later. There were three technical fouls whistled on both teams, plus a flagrant foul on Rockets guard Jalen Green in the fourth quarter. None were from Butler’s injury.

Though no punches were thrown, it only became clearer what kind of series we’re in for. 

“It’s a f–kin’ war now,” one person within the Warriors’ locker room said to NBC Sports Bay Area. “All we can do is fight back.”

Pure fight could be the solution. The Warriors will get their rest Wednesday night, fly home Thursday and learn from the film before Friday’s practice ahead of Saturday’s Game 3 at Chase Center. They’re going to have to find a way to combat the Rockets’ physicality. Somehow, some way.

If the beginning of the playoffs between two franchises who shared a long history of bad blood under the bright lights was a rock fight, Rockets coach Ime Udoka must have wanted boulders thrown on the Toyota Center court in Game 2. 

Steve Kerr looked furious throughout the course of the game with how his players, particularly Steph Curry, were being defended. He could be seen yelling about how Curry keeps getting held but yet the referees keep letting it go. An early timeout wasn’t so much a moment to huddle his team and slow the Rockets’ momentum. 

It was an opportunity to get everything off his chest to the officiating crew, loud and without any confusion over how he felt. His podium availability after didn’t match that intensity. He has had much more lively press conferences over the course of the season, instead giving credit to the Rockets for a win in which they set a tone and never trailed once. 

“Houston played great,” Kerr said. “They were really physical just like we expected. They came out with amazing force defensively.” 

In response, the Warriors looked like the older team that couldn’t find a second gear. Losing a star for the majority of the game will do that. So does having Brandin Podziemski, who was fantastic in Game 1 as a plus-17, try to battle through an illness that had him require an IV at halftime and go scoreless on five shots in just 14 minutes played. 

Draymond Green unsurprisingly was under the spotlight of physicality and skirmishes. He also wasn’t one to escalate anything despite being called for a tech midway through the fourth quarter when he got tangled for a second with Rockets center Alperen Şengün and unsuccessfully pleaded his case to referee David Guthrie. His face-to-face fourth quarter interaction with Fred VanVleet only grew once everybody else joined in.

“I thought it was a little less physical than Game 1,” Green said.

Those words could be nothing more than mind games from Green. Needing a long pause to think it through, Curry also agreed with his longtime teammate’s assessment. 

“I mean, actually, I might agree with that,” Curry said. “There was just a couple crashes that happened out there. We know what their MO is and what they’re trying to do. Use their size and athleticism, size advantage and at times try to bully us. We had a pretty good fight in both games.” 

The Warriors also were held to under 100 points in both games. They went 2-13 when scoring 99 points or under in the regular season, and one of those wins ironically was against the Rockets on Dec. 5 when they outlasted them 99-93 without Curry. The other was when the Warriors beat the New York Knicks 97-94 on March 15. 

Weirdly enough, reaching the century mark might be the magic number for these two teams. They have faced each other seven times now and the Warriors have failed to score 100 points in five games. 

Between the regular season and playoffs, the Warriors are 2–3 in games they can’t crack 100 points against the long, young, athletic and aggressive Rockets. 

“How many times have they been held under 100?” Curry asked. “That’s just the style of this matchup. I don’t care what the score is as long as we get more points. We got to get back to that.”

That number is four. The Warriors have kept the Rockets to under 100 points in four of their seven matchups, and Golden State has gone 3-1 in said games. Maybe that is the magic number. But the Warriors also have been held to under 23 assists in four games, seven off their typical goal of at least 30. 

The last man standing usually isn’t suited for a team led by three players 35 years old and up, and now one of them can only hope to recover quick enough to play this weekend. Surviving and advancing is what Curry and Green have been able to hang their hats for a long, long time. Adding Butler to the mix grows their chances exponentially. 

Winning a war of attrition will take guts to turn to glory for Golden State, leaving style points at the door. The Warriors didn’t lack fight in their loss, and now it’s up to them to figuratively punch their way back to a win back at home with the series all tied up.

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Butler's pelvic injury puts Warriors' NBA playoff dreams in peril originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Less than 10 minutes after tipoff Wednesday night, the Warriors saw their postseason dream land with a thud on the floor of Houston’s Toyota Center. Jimmy Butler III, grimacing in pain, eventually rose to his feet before splitting two free throws and limping into the locker room.

Butler’s hands were empty, but his gait suggested he might have shifted the odds of Golden State advancing beyond the first round and, moreover, extending its season into June.

In a game with hyperphysical overtones befitting a WWE event – without using folding chairs as weapons – Butler’s pelvic contusion took the worst of it and undoubtedly contributed to the Warriors’ 109-94 loss in Game 2 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series.

It’s only one game, evening the series at 1-1, but it felt much bigger because Butler’s uncomfortable exit – he’ll undergo an MRI examination on Thursday – precipitates the forming of dark clouds reminiscent of those that drifted above the December-January Warriors.

Remember them? Of course you do. The Steph and a Prayer bunch that everyone employed by the franchise and every soul walking the streets of Dub Nation hoped they’d never see again.

“If Jimmy’s out,” coach Steve Kerr told reporters in Houston, “we have to rethink everything.”

Indeed, they do. Butler’s arrival at the Feb. 6 trade deadline and his seamless fit with the roster changed everything. It saved a season going sideways. The Warriors were 25-26 when Butler came aboard and are 25-9 since. With Stephen Curry and Butler becoming a devastating duo, the team sprinted to the finish, moving up four places in the standings.

Barring a miraculous recovery by Butler, those Warriors of three months ago are back. Except this time, they’re in the playoffs, which they likely would have been watching had he not been added.

“We’ll have to figure that out,” Draymond Green said in Houston. “It’s no easy task. And replacing Jimmy, obviously, we all know what he’s meant to this team. Since he’s been here, we’ve kind of tailored our offense a bit around him, so that will have to change.

“He’s tough. We got a couple days off, so we’ll take it day by day and see what we get.”

Once Butler left Game 2, the Warriors brought commendable effort but were overmatched on a night when basketball often was obscured by the wrestling and gesturing from both teams. The Rockets found their rhythm early and turbocharged it when once he was ruled out.

Houston’s Jalen Green, the team’s top scorer, found his best self, finishing with a game-high 38 points – 33 coming after Butler limped off with 1:51 remaining in the first quarter.

“Anytime you lose one of your best players, top dogs, it’s tough to overcome,” Green said. “But we probably did a good job giving ourselves a chance. We just couldn’t get over the hump.”

The Rockets amped up their defense on Curry, who finished with a team-high 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting from the field, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Four others reached double figures, including Jonathan Kuminga, who totaled 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-5 from distance in his first appearance since April 11 at Portland.

Golden State’s task suddenly becomes one of trying to stay competitive. There is a link between any Butler absence and minutes afforded Kuminga insofar as the latter’s path to the rotation is tied to Jimmy’s availability. No Jimmy means Kuminga likely gets action.

It’s not the scenario the that best suits the Warriors, the Curry-Butler combo is the most significant determinant to their postseason fate.

“I don’t want to talk too much about it; he could be back next game,” a wishful-thinking Curry said. “I don’t want to dwell too much on it.

But if, for whatever reason, he’s not out there, I’ll carry a lot of the lift and the load on trying to create shots and create advantages. We’ll have different rotations out there, but there’s a couple plays that we call for him specifically. The rest of it is just trying to make the simple play, not turn the ball over, hit the open guy, set solid screens, shoot if you’re open. Normal basketball.

“It’s just a matter of can we do it consistently enough make enough shots? I don’t think it’s too much rocket science. Just got to be able to do it.”

The Warriors were not able to “do it” with any consistency in the two months before Butler came to the rescue. Curry was being mugged by mobs of defenders. The offense suffered. General manager Mike Dunleavy saw where it was heading and acquired Butler.

Butler said he’s fine. That’s not surprising. Players tend to downplay their injuries. If he is, and returns this weekend, the Warriors dodged a wallop. If he isn’t, their postseason journey enters a thick fog.

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Eason throws towel at Spencer as tensions rise in Warriors-Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Never underestimate NBA playoff basketball – especially when tensions rise on the floor. 

Late in the fourth quarter, as tempers flared between the Warriors and the Rockets in Game 2 of the first-round playoff series, an unusual sequence took place.

As players exchanged words, Rockets forward Tari Eason chucked a towel at Warriors guard Pat Spencer, hitting the 28-year-old in the face. Eason later received a technical foul.

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The scuffle surged after guard Fred VanVleet and forward Draymond Green exchanged words during a timeout.

Fred VanVleet and Draymond Green exchange words during the timeout, and both teams had to be separated pic.twitter.com/srnV45YFqI

— Warriors on NBCS (@NBCSWarriors) April 24, 2025

Following what was a physical game, Eason shared with reporters his intentions behind the incident.

“My emotions just got the best of me,” Eason told reporters after the Rockets’ win. “That’s really all that was. You got to keep it basketball. That’s really all it is. I’m just going to be better for my team moving forward in controlling my emotions.”

As Eason recognizes, Golden State tests its opponents in multiple ways.

“I know that with them some of the guys they got over there, their thing is to kind of try to beat you mentally,” Eason added. “If you know basketball, basketball is 90 percent mental. I just have to stay even-keeled.”

With a fiery series at play, the question becomes: What sequence will playoff basketball produce next?

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After a season full of clutch moments, Jalen Brunson was voted as the 2024-25 NBA Clutch Player of the Year on Wednesday.

The Knicks point guard garnered 70 of the 100 possible first-place votes -- almost three times more than Nikola Jokic's 26 -- 24 second-place votes and four third-place votes for a total of 426 points. The other four votes went to Anthony Edwards (2), Stephen Curry (1) and LeBron James (1).

The NBA Clutch Player of the Year award was first presented back in the 2022-23 season and honors the NBA player who best comes through for his teammates late in close games and Brunson was one of the best.

Brunson averaged an NBA-high 5.6 points in clutch situations, which are defined as possessions in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points. He also led the league in field goals made (52) and ranked second in total points (156) and third in total assists (28) in those situations.

Brunson shot 51.5 percent from the field and 84.0 percent from the free-throw line in clutch time. In 28 clutch games with Brunson, the Knicks had a record of 17-11.

In his third season with the Knicks, Brunson was named to his second All-Star Game -- first as a starter. He averaged 26.0 points and 7.3 assists per game this season, both eighth in the NBA.

Draymond Green trolls Rockets fans over ‘F–k you Draymond' chants during Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Warriors star Draymond Green has heard just about everything from opposing fans, even what Houston Rockets fans said Wednesday night.

Throughout the Rockets’ 109-94 Game 2 win over the Warriors, Houston fans serenaded Green with “F–k you Draymond’ chants.

Those chants reached a fever pitch in the fourth quarter when Green picked up a technical foul for shoving Rockets center Alperen Sengun as tempers flared.

After the game, Green brushed off the banter from Rockets fans.

“It’s not original,” Green told reporters at Toyota Center. “Been there before, won a championship while it was happening. So yeah, it’s not really an original. You can’t steal other people’s s–t. That belongs to Boston. So I kind of just kept it pushing.”

As Green noted, Boston Celtics fans gave him the business during the Warriors’ 2022 NBA Finals win.

Warriors coach Steve Kerr addressed the situation and wished fans would show more respect.

“No, Draymond’s, he’s been around forever,” Kerr told reporters. “He’s an instigator. He’s always going to be in the mix and because of his career, his championships, his fire, he’s going to be a lightning rod, and that’s all part of it.

I would prefer if fans could use a little more discretion and remember that the guy has kids. I don’t know … maybe I’m old school, but I’m all for the fans cheering for their team, and if they want to yell at the opponents, great, but I don’t know, I just think FU is a little much.”

Green, who finished with eight points on 2-of-6 shooting from 3-point range and grabbed five rebounds, is public enemy No. 1 in several NBA arenas, so he’s no stranger to rowdy fans.

The Warriors now head home to Chase Center for the next two games, but they’ll have to return to Houston at least one more time — and possibly twice — before the series ends.

So, Green hasn’t heard the last of Rockets fans.

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Porzingis, Celtics ‘not gonna let anybody punk us' in playoffs originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

BOSTON — A bloodied Kristaps Porzingis smiling and saluting a raucous TD Garden crowd perfectly summed up the first two games of the Boston Celtics’ opening series against the Orlando Magic.

The Magic vowed to continue “mucking things up” after Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s hard foul injured Jayson Tatum in Game 1, forcing the C’s superstar to miss his first career playoff game. They followed through with that promise with an even more physical Game 2.

During the second quarter, Caldwell-Pope again was the center of attention after tripping Celtics veteran Al Horford. The 38-year-old big man took exception, causing a brief dust-up between the two sides.

Late in the third, Kristaps Porzingis was bloodied after taking an elbow from Magic center Goga Bitadze. The Celtics big man left for the locker room, but he returned shortly thereafter with a bandage on his forehead and a loud ovation.

Porzingis received five stitches on his forehead and played through the ailment, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds. After the Celtics’ 109-100 victory, he told NBC Sports Boston’s Abby Chin that the injury “looked worse than it felt.” It was reminiscent of the cut he sustained on his nose during the team’s April 4 win over the Phoenix Suns.

While he could have played it safe and sat out the rest of the game, Porzingis couldn’t turn down the opportunity to fire up the crowd with another WWE-style entrance.

“I love my WWE moments, for sure,” Porzingis said during his postgame press conference. “It just happens in the game. I always love engaging with the crowd. I already knew getting hit again, blood again, the crowd was gonna love it. …

“How could I not come out?” he added. ” Oh, I have five stitches, I can’t play.’ My legs work. I like these moments. … Get a little love from the crowd … this is not gonna stop me.”

Predictably, Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla enjoyed the bloody scene.

“I like watching him bleed on the court,” Mazzulla said. “I think it’s important. And then he comes back in and does his job.”

The Magic “mucked it up” throughout, putting the C’s on the free-throw line for a season-high 23 attempts in the first half. Boston finished 25-of-33 from the charity stripe.

Despite the Magic heading back to Orlando trailing the series 2-0, Porzingis doesn’t expect them to tone down their physical style. All the Celtics can do is continue to play their game, with their elite offense against one of the league’s worst.

“That’s how they’re gonna play the whole series,” Porzingis told Chin. “They’re gonna try to muck it up, there’s gonna be borderline fouls all the time. At the end, we’ve got to have our runs, we’re gonna have guys hitting big shots, making runs, and we’re gonna show that we believe we’re the superior team.”

Porzingis’ jovial demeanor turned serious toward the end of his press conference as he delivered a stern message to the Magic and future playoff opponents.

“We’re not gonna let anybody punk us,” he said. “We expect teams to do this type of stuff, to try to get in our heads, to try to provoke us. To try to maybe get some reaction out of us.

“It’s an emotional game, obviously. So we weren’t surprised, but we’re just not gonna take it. We’re gonna hit them right back.”

Porzingis’ WWE-style entrances will have to wait as the Celtics will visit Orlando for Games 3 and 4. Game 3 is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET Friday on NBC Sports Boston.

Horford says KCP intentionally tripped him in Celtics-Magic Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

Kentavious Caldwell-Pope continues to get on Al Horford’s bad side.

In Game 1 of the Boston Celtics’ first-round NBA playoff series with the Orlando Magic, Caldwell-Pope drew Horford’s ire for his hard foul on Jayson Tatum that injured the All-Star’s wrist.

“There was something extra,” Horford said after Sunday’s game. “It was about the second or third time they, especially KCP, went at him in that way.”

In the second quarter of Wednesday’s Game 2 at TD Garden, Caldwell-Pope gave Horford something extra, appearing to trip the Celtics big man as he ran up the court on a fast break following a Jaylen Brown rebound.

Horford immediately got up and had words to Caldwell-Pope before walking away, while Brown got in KCP’s face to share some choice words of his own.

While Caldwell-Pope wasn’t assessed a foul on the play after a video review, Horford believes the Magic guard’s actions were intentional.

“Yeah, it was,” Horford told The Boston Globe’s Gary Washburn after the game when asked if he thought Caldwell-Pope’s trip was intentional.

“I was starting to run on the break and he got into me there and impeded my progress.”

Orlando has tried to get under the Celtics’ skin with aggressive physicality to make up for a disadvantage in on-court talent. When asked about Horford’s call-out of Caldwell-Pope before Wednesday’s Game 2, Magic guard Cole Anthony responded, “If anything, I look at it like a positive because now we’ve got them complaining,” adding that Orlando is “going to keep mucking it up.”

The Magic certainly mucked up Wednesday’s game, committing 23 personal fouls that resulted in 33 free throw attempts for Boston. But their offensive deficiencies again proved costly, as they made just 7 of 29 (24.1 percent) 3-pointers in a 109-100 loss to the Celtics.

As for Caldwell-Pope? He finished the night with three points on 1 for 9 shooting (0 for 6 from 3).

The Celtics will take a 2-0 series lead to Orlando for Game 3 on Friday night, with tip-off set for 7 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.

At no point, Clippers guard Norman Powell maintained, did he waver in his belief in himself. At no point was he going to shy away from taking shots with the game hanging in the balance, despite missing many of his shots.

Powell said he has worked too hard all season to lose his confidence now, even if the stage has gotten bigger because the Clippers are in the playoffs against the Denver Nuggets.

He missed his first five shots in Game 2 on Monday night, but Powell kept shooting.

Then he made three of his last four shots in the fourth quarter, during key moments, big-time shots that helped the Clippers pull out the tense game to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1.

Powell shot five for 14 from the field and finished with 13 points. But it was his seven points on three-for-four shooting in the final 12 minutes that showed how he impacted the game.

Read more:Kawhi Leonard’s big night was months in the making during grueling rehab

“Obviously for me, shots or buckets aren't coming as they have been all year,” Powell said after practice Wednesday. “But it's just about staying confident, riding the waves of the ups and downs of it. I’m trusting my work and just continue to take the shots that are open. Every shot that I've taken in this series have been shots I've made all year. It’s just not going in, but I have unwavering confidence in myself. My teammates [and] the coaching staff does.

“Throughout the course of the first two games, they've kept telling me to be aggressive and look for my spots, look for my shots, and late in the game I was able to convert on some of those shots … when we needed them, and that's what matters most is just continuing to believe in myself and find ways to be effective.”

Powell’s floater with 6:30 left gave the Clippers a 91-90 lead. His floater with 5:16 left gave them a 96-92 lead.

It was his three-pointer with 1:35 left, off a pass from Kawhi Leonard, for a 103-100 lead that proved to be biggest of all in the Clippers' 105-102 win. Getting the ball in that big spot showed Powell how much faith his teammates have in him.

“It just shows that they trust the work and they trusted my abilities as a player, as a teammate. Like I said, around this time you need that. You need the confidence in your two star players," Powell said, referring to Leonard and James Harden. "You need the confidence in the supporting cast and the role players to go out there and execute and win.

"It's a team game. Those guys are going to do what they have to do to put us in position, but it's everybody stepping up and making plays throughout the course of the series, throughout the course of a 48-minute game that's going to dig out wins. Not just going to be one guy, but everybody around here knows the amount I put into this game each and every day. Whether it's a good game, bad game, I'm here the next day putting in the work, getting better, watching film and seeing how I can be the best version of myself for this team. So it means a lot.”

They will need Powell again when the Clippers play Game 3, which will be their first playoff game at their new home, the Intuit Dome, on Thursday night.

Coach Tyronn Lue doesn’t care that Powell is shooting only 38.5% from the field in the series, averaging just 12.5 points after averaging a career-best 21.8 during the regular season and shooting 48.4% from the field, including 41.8% from three-point range.

Lue had a conversation with Powell to offer encouragement.

“He's got to trust in his work,” Lue said. “He works too hard. Sometimes I think too much. So, left him in at the end of the game. We saw what he did for us last year at the end of the games and so this wasn't any different. So, I'm glad he was able to make those three shots in the fourth quarter and hopefully that gets him going throughout the course of this series.”

Clippers applying full-court pressure

There have been times in this series when the Clippers applied full-court pressure on the Nuggets.

Kris Dunn and Derrick Jones Jr. would defend Denver point guard Jamal Murray full court in an attempt to wear him down.

Ben Simmons would pick up Denver center Nikola Jokic full court to try to slow him down.

“It helps a lot,” Lue said. “I think it allows them to get into their triggers later in the clock, which takes away Joker’s decision making being able to pass the ball three or four times and make a play. It also wears them down when they are playing so many minutes, so many heavy minutes. I thought when Ben came in the game and picked up Joker full court and kind of denied him and got into him, I thought it wore him down.

"Then DJ picked up Jamal and then Nico [Batum] was up picking up the floor against them. I think as the series goes along and the more minutes they are playing, the more we can be physical, picking up full court and trying to wear them down, it will be good for us.”

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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

What we learned as Jimmy Butler injured in Warriors' Game 2 loss to Rockets originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

BOX SCORE

HOUSTON – When the Warriors return to San Francisco on Thursday, they’ll be doing so as a beat-up team needing to find their home-court advantage after a 109-94 loss Wednesday to the Houston Rockets at the Toyota Center in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series. 

The loss evened the series at one win apiece. The final score also wasn’t as top of mind as usual.

Warriors star Jimmy Butler exited late in the first quarter after a hard fall to the hardwood that resulted in a pelvis contusion. He will undergo an MRI on Thursday after the Warriors return the Bay Area.

Steph Curry wasn’t able to recreate his masterful Game 1 performance. Curry had 20 points on 6-of-15 shooting and was 4 of 9 from deep in 37 minutes. He also had five rebounds and nine assists, but a game-high six turnovers.

He also was without his co-star for the majority of the game. Butler’s night only lasted eight minutes, in which he had three points on two shot attempts. The rest of the starting five – Draymond Green, Brandin Podziemski and Moses Moody – combined to score 20 points on 18 shots. Podziemski battled an illness and was scoreless, going 0 of 5 overall.

Golden State’s defense held Houston to six made 3-pointers in Game 1. Jalen Green, who scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting to open the series, scored eight threes himself. Green played a huge role in the Rockets’ win, exploding for a game-high 38 points.

The Warriors’ loss looked more like a football game or rugby match than basketball. WrestleMania made its way to Houston but these aren’t actors. There were a handful of “F–k you, Draymond” chants from Rockets fans and technical fouls for both sides. 

Here are three takeaways from the Warriors’ Game 2 loss.

Physicality Ramps Up 

The next time someone says the modern NBA is soft, show them this series. It already was obvious the Rockets were going to grab Curry until the referees blew their whistle. Anything to slow him down. In the first quarter alone, it felt like these two teams were going to trade the ball for boxing gloves. 

With four minutes left in the first quarter, Steve Kerr called a timeout not to slow the Rockets’ momentum but to let his feelings be known loudly to the refs. Not even two minutes later, a scary sight had everyone on the edge of their seats as Amen Thompson got under Butler in mid-air and the Warriors star slammed to the ground. He took a long time to get up before taking two free throws, missing his first and making his second. 

Butler shortly after limped to the locker room with his personal trainer, as well as Warriors director of sports medicine and performance Rick Celebrini. He was ruled out for the rest of the game with eight minutes left in the second quarter because of a pelvis contusion.

His injury was far from the only example of an extremely physical game. Curry and Kerr showed more frustrations than usual, and the Warriors looked like a team that desperately needs this series to end as quickly as possible.

Depth Tested

Podziemski was a late addition to the Warriors’ injury report with an illness three hours before tipoff. Coach Steve Kerr said Podziemski had a stomach issue from something he ate and had to go through pregame warmups to see if he could beat his bug. Podziemski battled through his shooting routine but toughed it out and was in the starting lineup. 

The second-year pro came up clutch Sunday in his playoff debut, scoring 14 points with a team-high eight rebounds, plus five assists and two steals, making him a game-high plus-17. Right away, it was clear how much Podziemski was hurting in Game 2.

Kerr’s first substitution was bringing Gary Payton II in for Podziemski. He returned but Curry replaced him for the final 28 seconds of the first quarter and Podziemski, during the second quarter,r was deemed questionable for the rest of the game while in the locker room because of his illness. Podziemski made his return with a little more than six minutes left in the third quarter as the Warriors trailed by 15 points.

Butler’s injury opened the door for the return of Jonathan Kuminga, who was a DNP-CD (Did Not Play, Coach’s Decision) in the Warriors’ previous three games. Pat Spencer came in for Podziemski and played his most real minutes since the Warriors’ win against the Rockets on Feb. 13. The backup point guard deserves to be commended for his efforts, recognizing the Rockets’ foul trouble and scoring nine points over nine minutes in the second quarter.

Kuminga had 11 points on 4-of-12 shooting in 26 minutes.

Help Wanted 

There isn’t a world where Spencer can be one of the Warriors’ most reliable bench scorers and they move onto the next round. Kuminga got to the basket, but he was far too inefficient trying to score by himself, missing at the rim on multiple occasions. Rust is a factor, but he didn’t look like a player Kerr can rely on, even if Butler misses the next game or more.

Rookie center Quinten Post undoubtedly made mistakes. He also proved getting through the first game loosened him up, and Post hit four 3-pointers for 12 points in 25 minutes off the bench. His role could increase moving forward. 

Maybe Podziemski gets over his illness quickly and he finds his shot again. Moody knocked down three threes but they felt empty and Buddy Hield was a non-factor for the second straight game. Gui Santos’ minus-8 plus/minus was the worst among Warriors reserves.

The Warriors have scored under 100 points in the first two games of the series and in five of the seven games against the Rockets this season.

The fact is, the Warriors don’t have a No. 2 scorer without Butler. His MRI results could erase major worries. Someone, though, will have to step up with or without him.

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