Jalen Green Shines, Butler Injured in Physical Game 2 Clash

Jalen Green delivered a spectacular bounce-back performance to lead the Houston Rockets to a 109-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors in Game 2 of their Western Conference first-round series on Wednesday  The series is now tied 1-1. After  disappointing seven-debut in  1, where he scored just  points on  ayoff  points, sinking eight 3-pointers, and energizing a  home crowd. His sharpshooting display outpaced Houston's entire Game 1 total from beyond the arc, where the Rockets managed just six 3s as a team.

Alperen Sengun added a double-double with 17 points and  16  while Tari Eason chipped in 14 points off the bench, helping the  2-seedeoid  falling into a 2-0 hole.

The Warriors, seeded seventh, were dealt an early setback when Jimmy Butler exited late in the first quarter after suffering a pelvis contusion from a hard fall.  been a key  25  seven rebounds, and six assists  his absence

Stephen Curry did his best to keep the Warriors in the game, finishing with 20 points and nine assists.  His performance also saw him reach a career milestone, becoming the 11th player in NBA history to surpass  playoff points (now at 4,017).

Despite trailing by as much  as 20, the Warriors mounted a brief comeback early in the fourth quarter, trimming the deficit to 11 behind a 9-0 run that included back-to-back 3-pointers from rookie Quinten Post. However, tensions flared soon after when Jalen Green was assessed a flagrant foul for catching Draymond Green in the face with an arm. That burst sparked a  incident, which was answered with an 8-0  capped by another step-back response  Jalen Green  the lead back to 19. Essentially, emotions continued to boil over with Draymond Green earning a technical for arguing with officials and Eason being penalized for tossing a towel in frustration.

Further compounding Golden State's woes was the limited availability of rookie guard Brandin Podziemski, who battled a stomach ailment and went scoreless in 14 minutes after contributing 14 points in Game 1.

With the series now even, the intensity is sure to rise as the matchup shifts to San Francisco for Game 3.