NBA Playoffs 2019: Scores and highlights from Pacers-Celtics, Pistons-Bucks, Jazz-Rockets

NBA.com Staff

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NBA Playoffs 2019: Scores and highlights from Pacers-Celtics, Pistons-Bucks, Jazz-Rockets image

The NBA Playoffs don't slow down.

There are three more Game 2s to look forward to today, starting with the Indiana Pacers and Boston Celtics. The Detroit Pistons will then take on the Milwaukee Bucks, followed by the Utah Jazz looking for revenge against the Houston Rockets.

Follow along below for quarter-by-quarter updates with stats and highlights from each game.

Rockets 118, Jazz 98 (Houston leads 2-0)

End of Third Quarter: Rockets 95, Jazz 67

Coming out of the locker rooms, the Jazz showed a lot of fight.

They brought the lead to as low as 17 but over the last 3:25 minutes of the quarter the Rockets went on a 12-1 run to close the quarter, increasing their 26-point halftime lead to 28. 

Harden is just two assists away from a triple-double - 32 points, 11 rebounds, and 8 assists on 50.0% shooting. 


End of Second Quarter: Rockets 70, Jazz 44

The Jazz were matching the Rockets point-for-point right up until the final 1:23 when the Rockets went on a 7-0 run to increase their 19-point first quarter lead to 26. 

James Harden has been on fire and so far, has continued his MVP form into the postseason. At halftime, he has played 19 minutes racking up a near triple-double with 25 points, 7 rebounds, and 7 assists (points and assists are game-highs).


 

 

So far, the Rockets have gone 22-of-42 (52.4%) from the field (Jazz: 18-of-52 shooting) including 13 three-pointers on 50.0% efficiency (Jazz: 4-of-22 on 3's). 

End of First Quarter: Rockets 39, Jazz 19

One quarter is in the books at the Toyota Center and the Rockets have already gotten out to a 20-point lead.

James Harden leads all scorers with 17 points (on 5-for-10 shooting) to go along with four assists in under 10 minutes of action. Eric Gordon has added eight points on a perfect 3-for-3 shooting from the field.


The Rockets are shooting 11-for-21 (52.4%) from the field as a team while the Jazz are 8-for-25 (32.0%) from the field and an icy cold 1-for-13 (7.8%) from deep. 

Celtics 99, Pacers 91 (Boston leads 2-0)

Boston outscores Indiana 31-12 in the final frame to take a 2-0 series lead before the series shifts to Bankers Life Fieldhouse.

The Celtics benefitted from clutch performances from Kyrie Irving, who finished with a game-high 37 points and Jayson Tatum, who added 26 points.


Gordon Hayward was the only other Celtic to finish in double figures, as he chipped in with 13 points.

Indiana was led by 23 points and eight rebounds from Bojan Bogdanovic, who was 9-for-21 from the field on the night. As the Pacers shot just 4-for-17 from the field in the fourth quarter, Bogdanovic scored half of the team's 12 points in the frame. 

End of Third Quarter: Pacers 79, Celtics 68

After scoring just eight points in the third quarter of Game 1, Indiana outscores Boston 29-16 in the third quarter of Game 2 to take an 11-point lead into the final frame.

Darren Collison's seven points led the way for Indiana in the third quarter, he now has 13 points on the night and is one of four Pacers to have scored in double figures: Bojan Bogdanovic leads the way with 17 points while Thaddeus Young has added 15 points and Tyreke Evans has chipped in with 10 points off the bench.


Kyrie Irving's 28 points (on 12-for-21) lead the way for the Celtics, who have now committed 13 turnovers on the night; the Pacers have converted these turnovers into 20 points.

Halftime: Celtics 52, Pacers 50

Offence slowed down a bit in the second quarter, where Boston outscored Indiana 23-17 to take a two-point lead into the half.

Kyrie Irving has set the tone for the Celtics, scoring a game-high 18 first-half points (on 8-for-13 shooting) to go along with five assists in just under 20 minutes of action. Second-year forward Jayson Tatum has added 12 points (on 5-for-7 shooting) for the C's.


Indiana is led by 13 points from Thaddeus Young, who has also snagged three steals in 16 minutes of action. Bojan Bogdanovic scored just two points in the second quarter and now has 12 points in the game.

End of First Quarter: Pacers 33, Celtics 29

Things are off to a much different start than in Game 1, where the teams combined to score just 158 points in the entire game.

Led by 10 points from Bojan Bogdanovic, Indiana is out to a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. As a team, the Pacers shot 65% (13-for-20) from the field and 57.1% (4-for-7) from beyond the arc.


Kyrie Irving leads the way for Boston with seven points and four assists as the Celtics cashed in an impressivesive performance on the offensive end as well – they shjot 55% (11-for-20) from the field and 50% (5-for-10) from deep.


Turnovers could be an issue: Boston committed five which led to 10 points while Indiana's four turnovers led to seven points.

Pregame

With Horford in, the starters remain unchanged from Game 1



Despite battling an illness, Celtics centre Al Horford is available for Game 2.


Milwaukee Bucks 120, Detroit Pistons 99 (Milwaukee leads 2-0)

The team with the best regular season record in the league cruised to another win, this time by 21.

On the back of their huge third quarter, the Bucks have taken a 2-0 series lead as it now shifts to Detroit for the next two games. 

Through two games, Giannis is averaging 25.0 points, 14.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists on 57.0% shooting as the Bucks have won the first two games by an average margin of 28 points.


 

End of Third Quarter: Bucks 93, Pistons 76

The Bucks turned in an impressive third quarter to build a big lead ahead of the fourth.

Giannis Antetokounmpo was extremely aggressive in the third, scoring 13 points to increase his total for the night to 23; the MVP candidate has also grabbed 10 boards and dished out four assists.

Second-year forward Luke Kennard has a team-high 17 points for the Pistons on 6-for-11 shooting, while Andre Drummond has a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. As a team, Detroit is now shooting 30-for-80 (37.5%) from the field.

Halftime: Pistons 59, Bucks 58

Detroit makes things interesting, outscoring Milwaukee 32-20 in the second frame to take a one-point lead into the half.

The Pistons are led by Luke Kennard, who has shot 4-for-5 from long range to score 14 points in the first half, tied with Reggie Jackson for a team-high. Considering Detroit is shooting just 39.7% from the field, it is impressive that they have an advantage through 24 minutes.

In comparison, Milwaukee is shooting 22-for-45 (48.9%) from the field, and is led by Khris Middleton's 15 points. Eric Bledsoe finishes the first half with 14 half while Giannis Antetokounmpo has added 10, including this LOUD finish.


 

End of First Quarter: Bucks 38, Pistons 27

Milwaukee takes an 11-point lead into the second quarter after a red-hot shooting performance in the first. The Bucks, who were led by 12 points from Eric Bledsoe in the first, shot 14-for-20 (70%) from the field and 4-for-6 (66.7%) from long range.


Detroit, who shot 10-for-30 (33.3%) in the first, was led by eight points from point guard Reggie Jackson, who was 3-for-5 from the field and added two assists.

Pregame

ESPN's Malika Andrews confirms that Pistons All-Star forward Blake Grifffin will again be inactive in Game 2


NBA.com Staff

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