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Bloodied and bruised, the defending champion Boston Celtics warned NBA rivals who want to intimidate them with a physical style that they are ready to trade blows with anybody. Jaylen Brown scored 36 points, going 5-of-7 from three-point range, and the host Celtics defeated Orlando 109-100 on Wednesday, seizing a 2-0 lead in an Eastern Conference first round best-of-seven series that continues Friday in Orlando.
The Celtics were without six-time All-Star forward Jason Tatum -- their points, rebounds and assists leader -- as he missed his first career playoff game after 114 appearances due to a bruised right wrist bone suffered in the series opener. Boston center Kristaps Porzingis scored 20 points and matched Brown and Al Horford with 10 rebounds despite suffering a bloody forehead gash late in the third quarter when struck in a rebound battle by the left elbow of Orlando center Goga Bitadze, the Georgian opening a cut that required five stitches. "It was a tough, physical game. Nothing easy on either side. Every rebound is a war and it's probably going to be that way for the rest of the series," Porzingis said. "We're going to be us. We're not going to let anybody punk us."
Latvia's Porzingis said the Celtics expect a body-banging style from opponents and Boston will be ready to respond in kind. "We expect teams to be doing this kind of stuff, to get in our heads, try to provoke us, get some reaction out of us," Porzingis said. "We weren't surprised but we're just not going to take it. We're going to hit them right back."
In other games, East top seed Cleveland held off visiting Miami 121-112 as Donovan Mitchell scored 17 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter and the Cavs took a 2-0 series edge with game three Saturday in Miami. At Houston, Jalen Green scored 38 points and the host Rockets beat Golden State 109-94 to level their Western Conference series at 1-1 with game three in San Francisco on Saturday.
