Jayson Tatum was hurt. Jimmy Butler got hurt. Kristaps Porzingis gushed blood.
Physicality is becoming a story in this postseason.
Day 5 of the NBA playoffs on Wednesday saw the Celtics play without Tatum because of a sore wrist, Butler taking a hard fall that left him with a pelvic contusion and headed for an MRI exam, and Porzingis bloodied to the point that his coach ... was happy?
Well, in a way, yes.
“I like watching him bleed on the court,” Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said. “I think it's important. And he comes back in and does his job.”
That he did, and so did the rest of the Celtics. They beat Orlando for a 2-0 series lead. Cleveland used an NBA playoff record 11 3-pointers in the second quarter to build enough of a cushion to hold off Miami for a 2-0 lead, and Houston got 38 points from Jalen Green to top the shorthanded Warriors and tie up that series at a game apiece.
There are three games on Thursday: Detroit plays host to New York with a chance to take the lead in a playoff series for the first time since 2008, Oklahoma City will try for a 3-0 series lead when it goes to Memphis and Denver visits the Los Angeles Clippers with that matchup tied 1-1.
Thursday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — New York at Detroit (TNT)
9:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
10 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (NBA TV)
Friday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
7 p.m. — Boston at Orlando (ESPN)
8 p.m. — Indiana at Milwaukee (ESPNU, NBA TV)
9:30 p.m. — LA Lakers at Minnesota (ESPN)
Saturday's national TV schedule
All times Eastern
1 p.m. — Cleveland at Miami (TNT)
3:30 p.m. — Oklahoma City at Memphis (TNT)
6 p.m. — Denver at LA Clippers (TNT)
8:30 p.m. — Houston at Golden State (ABC)
Betting odds
Oklahoma City (+175) is favored to win the NBA title, according to BetMGM Sportsbook, followed closely by Boston (+195). After that, it's Cleveland (+550), Golden State (+1600), the Los Angeles Lakers (+1600), the Los Angeles Clippers (+2500), Minnesota (+4000), New York (+5000), Indiana (+6000) and Houston (+6000).
The Rockets' odds changed significantly — they were at +12500 — after they tied the series with the Warriors.
From there, it's Denver (+6600), Milwaukee (+25000), Detroit (+25000), then Miami, Memphis and Orlando (all +150000).
Golden State, the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference, is still favored (-175) to win its series against No. 2 seed Houston.
The Clippers also are a lower seed favored to advance; they're at -190 in the 4-5 matchup with Denver. The Lakers were underdogs in their series after losing Game 1; they moved barely back into the favorite role (-120) after winning Game 2 against Minnesota.
Award season
The second of the major NBA awards was announced Wednesday, when New York's Jalen Brunson won clutch player of the year.
On Tuesday, Boston's Payton Pritchard won sixth man of the year.
Defensive player of the year (Dyson Daniels of Atlanta, Draymond Green of Golden State or Evan Mobley of Cleveland) will be awarded Thursday, announced in a 6:30 p.m. TNT broadcast.
The hustle award winner will be revealed Friday at 2 p.m.
Key upcoming events
Saturday — NBA early entry deadline.
May 3 — Earliest possible start date for Round 2 of the playoffs. Series could also start on May 4, May 5 or May 6.
May 12 — Draft lottery, Chicago.
May 18 or 20 — Game 1, Western Conference finals.
May 19 or 21 — Game 1, Eastern Conference finals.
June 5 — Game 1, NBA Finals. (Other games: June 8, June 11, June 13, June 16, June 19 and Game 7, if necessary, will be June 22.)
June 25 — NBA draft, first round.
June 26 — NBA draft, second round.
Stories of note
— Preview of Thursday's games: Pistons-Knicks, Grizzlies-Thunder, Clippers-Nuggets.
— NBA returning to Abu Dhabi for pair of Knicks-76ers preseason games in October.
— Best ratings for an opening playoff weekend in 25 years, NBA says
— Mavs GM Nico Harrison didn't know how beloved Luka Doncic was in Dallas
— The NBA finalists for seven awards are released
— The playoffs could be wide-open. Again
— A look inside the numbers of this season, headed into the playoffs
— Cleveland's Kenny Atkinson wins NBCA coach of the year award
Inside the Cleveland 3-point record show
— Cleveland set an NBA playoff record with 11 3-pointers in a quarter, but it was a total team effort to get there. The Cavs shot 11 for 15 from deep in a 10-minute stretch against Miami: Max Strus led them going 3 for 3 in that span, Donovan Mitchell went 2 for 3, De’Andre Hunter and Sam Merrill were both 2 for 2, Isaac Okoro was 1 for 1 and Evan Mobley was 1 for 2. (Darius Garland and Ty Jerome were both 0 for 1.)
— There was a 93-second span of the second quarter where the teams scored a combined 18 points — 12 for the Cavs, six for the Heat, all of it with the teams going 6 for 6 from beyond the arc.
— The Cavs had a pair of flurries where they went 4 for 4 from deep in short order, one of those bursts lasting 93 seconds, the other just 82 seconds (and Strus went 3 for 3 in that one.)
Stats of the day
— Miami entered Wednesday 45-1 all-time, including playoffs, in games where it scored at least 112 points, made at least 16 3-pointers, shot at least 50% and held its opponent under 50% shooting. All that happened on Wednesday in Cleveland, and the Heat still lost. NBA teams were 76-0 with those numbers in playoff games all-time before Wednesday.
— Because of injury (Jimmy Butler) and illness (Brandin Podziemski), Golden State had two starters play less than 15 minutes in a playoff game. That hadn't happened to the Warriors since 1992.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
The Associated Press
