NBA Playoffs 2019: Scores and highlights from Rockets vs. Jazz, Blazers vs. Thunder and more

NBA.com Staff

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NBA Playoffs 2019: Scores and highlights from Rockets vs. Jazz, Blazers vs. Thunder and more image

The second day of the 2019 NBA Playoffs is in the books.

Unlike the first day, there weren't any upsets. The higher seed won each game, with the Boston Celtics beating the Indiana Pacers, the Portland Trail Blazers outlasting the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Milwaukee Bucks cruising to a win over the Blake Griffin-less Detroit Pistons and the Houston Rockets taking care of business against the Utah Jazz.

If you missed any of the action, check below for quarter-by-quarter updates from each game, as well as statistics and highlights.

Rockets 122, Jazz 90 (Houston leads 1-0)

The Rockets win by 32 points following an explosive fourth quarter in which they outscored the Jazz by 20.

James Harden finished the game with 29 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in 32 minutes of action. He was one of seven Rockets to score in double figures, with Eric Gordon (17), Clint Capela (16), Chris Paul (14), PJ Tucker (11), Danuel House Jr. (11) and Kenneth Faried (11) joining him.


On the Jazz side, Rudy Gobert led the way with 22 points and 12 rebounds.

Donovan Mitchell had a rough outing, scoring 19 points on 7-for-18 shooting from the field.

End of third quarter: Rockets 83, Jazz 71

James Harden came back down to earth in the third quarter, missing seven of his nine shot attempts, but the Rockets still lead by double figures heading into the fourth quarter.

Can the Rockets close this one out or do the Jazz have one big run in them?

Halftime: Rockets 59, Jazz 44

The Jazz might have to change how they're guarding James Harden because he is carving them up.

Not only does he have a game-high 17 points through two quarters, Harden has seven assists. He's set Clint Capela up for several dunks and Houston's shooters with a number of wide open 3s when the Jazz have taken those lobs away.


Ricky Rubio is at least keeping the Jazz within striking distance with a team-high 13 points and three assists.

End of first quarter: Rockets 31, Jazz 24

A good sign for the Rockets and a bad sign for the Jazz: James Harden has it going early.

The MVP candidate already has 12 points on 5-for-6 shooting from the field and 2-for-2 from deep.


The Jazz were keeping up with the Rockets for most of the first quarter, but they didn't make a field goal in the final five minutes of the period — all five of their points during that stretch came from the free throw line.

They'll need to get their offence back on track to have any chance of upsetting the Rockets in Game 1.

Bucks 121, Pistons 86 (Milwaukee leads 1-0)

Led by Giannis Antetokounmpo's 24 points and 17 rebounds, the Bucks cruise to a Game 1 win over the Pistons.

Seven players (including Antetokounmpo) scored in double figures for Milwaukee. George Hill was the team's second-leading scorer with 16 points, followed by Eric Bledsoe (15), Brook Lopez (14) and Khris Middleton (14).

The Pistons struggled all game long, but Luke Kennard provided a spark off the bench with a team-high 21 points.

End of third quarter: Bucks 97, Pistons 61

It's not going well for the Pistons. Not only are they down by 36 points entering the fourth, Andre Drummond was ejected in the third quarter for a hard foul on Giannis Antetokounmpo that was ruled a Flagrant 2.

He left the game with 12 points, 12 rebounds and two assists.

Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, continues to have a monster game. He's up to 24 points, 17 rebounds and four assists.

End of second quarter: Bucks 70, Pistons 43

The Bucks followed a 38-point first quarter with a 31-point second quarter.

Giannis Antetokounmpo already has a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Two of those points came on a powerful dunk early in the second quarter.

Antetokounmpo has gotten plenty of help in the scoring department from Brook Lopez (14), George Hill (13), Eric Bledsoe (8), Pat Connaughton (8) and Khris Middleton (7).

Luke Kennard leads the way for the Pistons with 15 points off the bench. The sharpshooter is 3-for-4 from 3-point range.

End of first quarter: Bucks 38, Pistons 18

The Bucks are already up big in this one.

Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brook Lopez combined to score 21 of the team's 38 points in the first quarter. The Bucks also got a scoring punch off the bench from Pat Connaughton to the tune of eight points.


It's been a rough start for the Pistons, who missed 18 of their 26 shot attempts.

Pregame

Pistons All-Star forward Blake Griffin has been officially ruled as OUT


Trail Blazers 104, Thunder 99 (Portland leads 1-0)

Thanks to a game-high 30 points from Damian Lillard, the Trail Blazers earned their first playoff win in nearly three years to take a 1-0 series lead over the Thunder.

Portland's All-Star added 14 in the final frame to hold off OKC, which was clawing back all game after trailing by as many as 19.


End of third quarter: Trail Blazers 76, Thunder 69

Through three quarters, the Blazers have held on to a seven-point lead despite their offence falling off since a hot start. 


CJ McCollum leads the way with 20 points through three and Enes Kanter has added 16 points to go along with 16 rebounds in 26 minutes. OKC is led by Russell Westbrook, who inches closer to a triple-double – he's up to 20 points, nine rebounds and nine assists.

Halftime: Trail Blazers 54, Thunder 48

After trailing by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Thunder have clawed back in to make it a six-point game at the break.


Russell Westbrook is on triple-double watch as he has 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists in under 20 minutes of action. Portland has cooled down as it shot 6-for-20 in the second quarter which allowed OKC back into the game.

In addition to their shooting, the Trail Blazers turned the ball over 10 times which led to nine points for the Thunder.

End of first quarter: Trail Blazers 39, Thunder 25

Damian Lillard set the tone with a 3-pointer from DEEP to get Portland on the board first and his teammates followed suit.


The Blazers finished the first frame shooting 12-for-20 (60%) from the field including 7-for-10 (70%) from deep to get out to a 14-point lead over the Thunder. Lillard (12 points) and CJ McCollum (11 points) combined to score 23 in the opening quarter.

Pregame

Paul George WILL play in Game 1


Celtics 84, Pacers 74 (Boston leads 1-0)

The Celtics closed out Game 1 by getting their lead up to as much as 22 points in the fourth quarter.

Kyrie Irving finished with 20 points in his Celtics debut, while Marcus Morris joined him with 20 points off the bench. The Pacers' offensive struggles could be summed up by two players reaching double-figures, while 74 points is the least they scored in a game this season.


End of third quarter: Celtics 64, Pacers 53

The Celtics defence locked up in the third. They held the Pacers to just eight points on two (!) made field goals, going 2-for-19 for the quarter. They outscored Indiana 26-8 in the frame, capped off by a deep buzzer-beater by Terry Rozier to keep momentum going into the fourth.


Halftime: Pacers 45, Celtics 38

The Pacers are using a balanced scoring attack and solid defence to take a seven-point lead into the half. Eight different players are in the scoring column with no player in double figures. They've also forced the Celtics to turn the ball over 10 times.


End of first quarter: Celtics 20, Pacers 20

Marcus Morris is bringing the energy to the TD Garden so far. The Celtics' forward has 12 points in six and a half minutes off the bench, knocking down two of his three 3-point attempts.


Pregame

A sea of green awaits as TD Garden is ready to host Game 1


NBA.com Staff

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