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.
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.”
"It's not original."
A classic Draymond response to the "F–k you, Draymond" chants tonight in Houston 😅 pic.twitter.com/en5gX4G3pX
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.
19-year-old is youngest Australian to win a match at WTA 1000 level
World No 78 beats Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in first round
Australia’s teenage tennis sensation Maya Joint has eclipsed one of Ash Barty’s records by earning her first WTA 1000 match triumph at the Madrid Open.
On her tour-level clay-court main draw debut in the Spanish capital, the 19-year-old Queenslander outlasted local wildcard Carlota Martinez Cirez 6-2 2-6 6-4 for a third win in three days.
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.
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.
It was a tightly-contested game between the Mets and Phillies on Wednesday afternoon at Citi Field
The score was tied 2-2 heading to the 10th when Edwin Diaz, in his second inning of work, got one out before allowing an RBI single to give the Phillies the lead. The Mets closer was in obvious discomfort and was lifted from the game with what was revealed to be a left hip cramp.
Enter Max Kranick.
The young right-hander was tasked with getting the Mets out of further trouble without the usual bullpen warmups, but that didn't seem to bother him.
After allowing a walk to J.T. Realmuto and an Alec Bohm single, Kranick got Bryson Stott and Max Kepler to fly out to keep the score, 3-2.
"Looking back at it, I probably should have thrown a couple more [warmup pitches], I would have been more ready," Kranick said after the game with a smile. "That’s my fault, I’ve never done that before. Next time I’ll be ready."
Mets skipper Carlos Mendoza said he was trying to avoid using Kranick after the 27-year-old threw two innings two days prior.
Kranick knew the plan, but understood that with how the game was going, and extra innings were imminent, he figured he would be used and kept moving around in the bullpen just in case. And it helped.
"He was unbelievable today...Comes in there in a very difficult spot and continues to make pitches. Continues to stay on the attack," Mendoza said of Kranick. "The moment is never too big for him. Trusting his stuff in the zone and got a huge out for us."
Kranick executed his pitches and allowed the Mets a chance to win it in the bottom of the 10th, which they did thanks to Starling Marte.
He said he's found success this season by staying in the moment and not think too far ahead. He wants to "go pitch-by-pitch" and "win every pitch." That has led to his impressive 2.81 ERA over 10 appearances this season.
And as Wednesday proved, he can be counted on in even the most difficult situations.
"Getting hot took a little bit, but happy I was able to come through for the team," he said.
Thanks to Kranick's heroics, the Mets (18-7) own the best record in baseball, have won seven straight and are 12-1 at home for the first time in franchise history.
Ottawa Senators prospect Luke Ellinas scored in overtime of game seven to win the series for Kitchener and complete a reverse sweep of the Kitchener Rangers. It is the first OHL reverse sweep since the Guelph Storm achieved the same feat during the 2019 playoffs.
Windsor blasted through Kitchener in the first three games of the series, quickly establishing a 3-0 lead. Things seemed hopeless for Kitchener, seeing as a reverse sweep is such a rare occurrence. For context, they are just the sixth team to come back from a 3-0 deficit in OHL history.
Ellinas, whom the Senators drafted in the fourth round of the 2024 NHL Draft, has been a key contributor for Kitchener throughout the playoffs. He is tied for the team lead in goals (6) and points (13).
It can be argued that Ellinas started and finished the comeback since he scored all three goals in Kitchener's 3-0 win in game four as well as the overtime winner in game seven.
Another player who played a huge role in Kitchener's win is Clarkson University commit Jackson Parsons, whose .919 save percentage and 2.12 goals-against average lead all goalies in the playoffs after two rounds.
The comeback is another feather in the already well-endowed hat of Rangers' Head Coach Jussi Ahokas, who was awarded the Matt Leyden Trophy, which is given to the OHL's Coach of the Year.
The Rangers return to the Western Conference Finals for the first time since 2018 when they narrowly lost to the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. This time around, they will face the London Knights, who have yet to drop a single game this postseason.
The Rangers were one of only a handful of teams to defeat London multiple times during the regular season. That said, they did lose the six-game season series against the Knights 4-2.
The Knights will be well-rested going into the series, having played eight games compared to the 12 the Rangers have played. When the series kicks off on Friday, London will not have played in over a week.
Kitchener will enter the series feeling incredibly confident after completing the comeback. While they won't be as well-rested as London, they will not have had the opportunity to develop any rust either.
If they take even a game off of the 2024 OHL Champions, they will have done better than any other team to play the Knights so far in the postseason. Puck drop for game one of the Western Conference Finals will take place at 7:00 p.m. at Canada Life Place.
“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.
“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.
Former cricketer opens up on dark times during recovery
‘I thought my face had come off. I was frightened to death’
Andrew Flintoff has described his return to cricket as a coach over the past 18 months as “the one thing that saved me” as he struggled to come to terms with the mental and physical scars caused in a car accident during filming for the BBC’s Top Gear in December 2022.
Flintoff talks for the first time about the accident and its aftermath in a Disney+ documentary to be released on Friday. “After the accident I didn’t think I had it in me to get through,” he says.
The Vegas Golden Knights have recalled seven players from the Henderson Silver Knights to form their playoff taxi squad.
The Silver Knights fell short of making the Calder Cup Playoffs this season, allowing the Golden Knights to recall seven players to form a taxi squad, who will serve as extra players available if the Golden Knights are ravaged by injuries.
The taxi squad is made up of four forwards: Cal Burke, Tanner Laczynski, Raphael Lavoie, and Matyáš Šapovaliv, two defensemen: Dysin Mayo and Robert Hagg and goaltender Carl Lindbom.
Burke, Laczynski and Lavoie have all played several games with the Golden Knights this season, mostly playing in fourth-line roles. The Golden Knights have Jonas Rondbjerg, Alexander Holtz, and Tanner Pearson currently serving as healthy scratches, leaving a lengthy list of players standing in their way.
Sapovaliv is one of the Golden Knights' top prospects who completed his rookie season in the AHL this year, scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 71 games. The 21-year-old is known for his defensively responsible game but has not made his NHL debut yet.
Mayo and Hagg are veteran defensemen who can step into the lineup and provide stability if need be. With Kaedan Korczak and Ben Hutton serving as healthy scratches, it's unlikely that Mayo and Hagg will be needed.
Lindbom, like Sapovaliv, completed his rookie season in the AHL. He played in 36 games, posting a .912 SV% and a 2.65 GAA, shaping up to possibly be the future netminder for the Golden Knights.
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Clippers guard Norman Powell shoots a three-pointer as Nuggets guard Jamal Murray and center Nikola Jokic (15) defend in the second half of Game 2. (David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
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.
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.
“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.”
Juan Soto wasn’t able to come through for the Mets with the bat during Wednesday’s win over the Phillies -- but he still found a way to make his mark.
The superstar hasn’t exactly been known for his outfield defense throughout his career -- but that’s exactly where his impact was felt the most during this one.
With two on and two outs in a 2-2 game in the top of the eighth, Phillies outfielder Max Kepler lined what appeared to be a go-ahead single to right off of Jose Butto; however, Soto fielded the ball and came up throwing.
The throw was a bit off line but catcher Hayden Senger made a terrific play behind the plate, quickly reaching over to slap the tag on the sliding Nick Castellanos, just in time to keep the score tied and the inning.
It was Soto’s first outfield assist as a Met -- and it was a huge one.
"It was pretty good," Carlos Mendoza said. "Soto getting behind the ball and then Senger making sure he catches the baseball and then quickly applying the tag -- but the one hope from Soto, just getting behind the ball and making that one hope throw, it was a well-executed play."
The Mets were able to keep things evened up after that before heading into extras.
In the top of the 10th, the Phillies were able to bring across the ghost runner from second base against Edwin Diaz before he was forced out of the game due to a left hip cramp.
Max Kranick then entered and somehow worked his way out of a bases-loaded jam before the Mets fought right back and scored two runs of their own, securing the sweep on a Starling Marte walk-off hit.
“This is a team that doesn’t give up,” Soto said. “We keep working day in and day out every inning — it doesn’t matter if we’re winning by a lot of losing by a lot, I think the guys have been showing that we just never give up.”
Despite finishing the day 1-for-4 with a punchout, the 26-year-old was happy to be able to come through somehow.
“It’s always great to have some role and play a part in the game,” Soto said. “I’m trying my best to come through with the bat, but whenever that doesn’t come through, I have to do something else to help. We play defense, we run the bases right -- today I had the chance to help the team with my defense."
Jimmer Fredette has a career arc unlike anybody else. A former BYU standout who became an NBA lottery pick, he went on to be a massive star in China, then transitioned into being one of the top 3x3 players in the world and an Olympian.
That basketball career arc is ending for Fredette, 36, as he announced his retirement from the sport.
It’s time to say goodbye to basketball. I have loved every second of my career through the good and the bad! Thank you all for the support throughout the years. Basketball has made me who I am today. Excited for what is next in my life with my family! pic.twitter.com/Rx4r8Y4yfG
"It's been unbelievable, rewarding, and I definitely can't complain," Fredette told NBC Sports this summer before heading to Paris as part of the USA's men's 3x3 team. "I mean, what an awesome career I've had and it has built me into the person I am today, and not just a basketball player. So it's been pretty incredible to experience so many cool different cultures and places."
Fredette led the NCAA in scoring during his senior season at BYU, averaging 28.9 points per game and shooting almost 40% from three-point range, and he was voted the Naismith College Player of the Year.
BYU great Jimmer Fredette has announced his retirement from basketball.
Fredette was the No. 10 pick of the Milwaukee Bucks in 2011, part of a draft-night trade with the Kings. Fredette was never able to establish himself as a solid rotation player in the league, but he played 241 games across six NBA seasons, averaging six points a game.
The next chapter of Fredette's career largely unfolded in China. He played four seasons for the Shanghai Sharks, was named league MVP in 2017 and was a three-time All-Star. He also played a season in Greece for Panathinaikos, where he helped it win the Greek League championship.
In recent years, Fredette has been one of the top 3x3 players in the world — he won gold medals at the 2022 FIBA 3×3 AmeriCup and the 2023 Pan American Games — and with that represented the USA in the Paris Olympics.
"It's been amazing," Fredette told NBC Sports this summer. "Honestly, it's been an incredible career. I started off up and down in the NBA, obviously, when I got there, it was some great times and some, some really tough times. Kind of a roller coaster at that point. And then I ended up going to China and really had a great career over in China and in Europe. And now to be a 3x3 and be able to be on what is considered one of the best teams in the world and, and to have a chance to go to the Olympics and play in the pinnacle of athletics. It's been unbelievable."
And it won't be forgotten by fans for a long time.
On Wednesday morning, following the Ottawa Senators’ tough 3-2 overtime loss in Toronto, winger Drake Batherson stepped in front of the media in Ottawa and took full responsibility for his role in the Maple Leafs' game-winning goal.
"You live and you learn," Batherson told the media. "I mean, you make a mistake and you learn from it, and sometimes it's the hard way. And obviously, it costs us the game. So, you live and you learn but like I say, you get to move on to the next one. But I definitely wish I could have that one back, to say the least.
"The best thing you do is come out tomorrow and try to make a difference."
While Batherson taking accountability is both appropriate and admirable, in reality, there was more than one contributor to the series of unfortunate events.
Prior to the game-winning goal, Batherson carried the puck up the left wing as the Senators entered the Leafs' zone. He attempted a soft backhand pass to the middle, trying to connect with Dylan Cozens, but Simon Benoit easily intercepted the pass and rushed up ice. It could have been a disaster, but not because it led to an odd-man rush. It didn't. Toronto made a line change on the rush, so it was a relatively harmless 2-on-4.
The Senators, however, were also in the process of changing their D on the fly. When Batherson lost the puck, Tyler Kleven and Nikolas Matinpalo were heading off, and as Thomas Chabot and Nick Jensen jumped on, Ottawa even briefly had too many men on the ice. Matinpalo made it off, but Kleven didn’t. Because of the turnover, Jensen had to return to the bench, while Kleven scrambled to get back into the play.
That confusion allowed Benoit, who isn’t exactly Cale Makar, to gain the Ottawa blue line with little resistance. Still, it was just a 2-on-4. That play never should have resulted in a shot, let alone a high-quality scoring chance.
Cozens had a chance to defend against Domi but overcommitted on a soft stick check and missed. Batherson also whiffed completely on his attempt to recover. Both players could have ended the threat with even the lightest body contact.
Chabot should have been in a perfect position to provide an extra layer of protection, but instead made a critical mistake by backing in far too deep when Domi was the only threat.
Chabot then tried to block the shot, but only ended up helping to screen Sens goalie Linus Ullmark, while giving Domi a clean shooting lane. Benoit was also there to help with the screen and probably could have been slowed down by Kleven, who had no one else to cover.
For Sens fans, the goal may have been the hardest pill to swallow since Chris Kunitz’s double-overtime winner in the 2017 Eastern Conference Final — a goal that, coincidentally, came from almost the same spot on the ice.
Batherson deserves some serious blame for the winning goal, no question. But he doesn’t need to carry it all — there was more than enough blame to go around.
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.
Tari Eason was called for a transition take foul after shoving Brandin Podziemski to the ground 🤨 pic.twitter.com/18DTZtEJ6N
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.
![Kitchener Rangers Alternate Captain Luke Ellinas [Natalie Shaver/OHL Images].](https://media.zenfs.com/en/the_hockey_news_articles_331/27eb679b8e1c9622c38ceb0bfdbb4bed)
