Jaylen Brown got the TD Garden crowd on its feet early Tuesday with a poster dunk against the Philadelphia 76ers.

The Boston Celtics guard then promptly got T’d up for the dunk’s aftermath, quickly shifting the tenor of the energy in the building.

The dunk took place in the opening minutes of Tuesday’s Game 2 as it was tied 6-6. Brown beat Tyrese Maxey from the top of the 3-point line, then leaped between four 76ers defenders from the top of the restricted area.

Adam Bona was the only defender brave enough to challenge Brown at the rim. It was a poor decision. Brown cocked the ball back an unleashed a one-handed hammer dunk as Bona met him at the rim.

Bona fell on his back to the court after both landed from the mid-air confrontation.

Brown continued to walk forward, leering over his vanquished opponent after completing the dunk. For this, he drew a technical foul.

Brown, who has frequent and vocal beef with NBA officials, immediately protested. But it was to no avail.

The 76ers were awarded a technical free throw that Tyrese Maxey converted.

But Brown’s dunk still counted on the scoreboard. As did the message as he set the tone early with the Celtics in search of a 2-0 series lead.

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Life is funny. The one thing that made the Los Angeles Lakers underdogs is kind of the reason they won the series opener with the Houston Rockets.

Kevin Durant’s absence sapped more star power from this Round 1 matchup — already down Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves — but unlike L.A.’s injured studs, Durant has a good shot of playing in Game 2 tonight.

My Rockets vs. Lakers predictions and NBA picks bank on a better showing from Houston tonight, with or without KD on April 21.

Rockets vs Lakers prediction

Who will win Rockets vs Lakers Game 2?

Rockets: I bet the Lakers’ moneyline in Game 1, even before the news of Kevin Durant’s knee injury. If there was going to be a game in which L.A. came out swinging, it would be the opener. And boy did it. But balance is restored in Game 2 as Houston’s role players get on track and the Lakers’ support staff plummets back to earth.

Rockets vs Lakers best bet: Rockets -4.5 (-110)

With the way the Los Angeles Lakers shot the ball in Game 1, it may not have mattered if Kevin Durant was healthy or not.

Los Angeles finished a blistering 61% from the floor, including 10-for-19 from beyond the arc. A well-rested LeBron James conducted a crisp L.A. attack that recorded an assist on more than 72% of its total buckets.

The Houston Rockets’ offense, on the other hand, was lost and untethered without the gravity of Durant. The Rockets were a chilly 38% from the floor, with an 11-for-33 mark from beyond the arc.
 
Los Angeles was able to be more aggressive when it came to double-teaming Houston’s secondary stars, and the Rockets missed KD’s ability to create when things broke down. Couple that with playoff nerves on the road for some younger standouts, and you can see how things fell apart.

I expect it all to come closer to the middle in Game 2 as a potential letdown for the Lakers, who got a Luka-like effort from reserve-turned-starter Luke Kennard on Saturday.

Los Angeles won’t connect at the same clip, and Houston will tighten the bolts on offense, with or without Durant. Head coach Ime Udoka is emphasizing spacing and more screen action — both on- and off-ball — after iso-heavy sets stagnated the Rockets in Game 1.

I’m holding out hope Durant returns for the sake of this bet, but I’m confident Houston will still perform better than Game 1 if he doesn’t.

Rockets vs Lakers same-game parlay

Amen Thompson scored 17 points in Game 1 as one of Houston’s lone bright spots. He dropped 26 and 19 points in the previous two matchups with Los Angeles, and if Durant returns, he’ll enjoy a lot more space in Game 2. Thompson is projected for as many as 19 points.

LBJ did it all for L.A. in the opener but didn’t need to take or make triples, with the Lakers playing with the lead. Game script has Los Angeles trailing tonight, and with some of the Lakers’ role players coming back to earth, James will jack up his share of long-range looks to close that gap. 

Rockets vs Lakers SGP

• Rockets -4.5
• Amen Thompson Over 16.5 points
• LeBron James Over 1.5 threes

Our “from downtown” SGP: The King and I (V2.0)

Let’s try this one more time. I had a fun all-GOAT same-game parlay pegged for Game 1 leaning into LeBron vs. KD. Then Durant went and spoiled it all by banging up his knee in practice. He’s trending toward playing in Game 2, so I’m calling for these two HoFers to pace their team in points and knock down shots from downtown.

Rockets vs Lakers SGP

• Rockets -4.5
• Kevin Durant Over 23.5 points
• Kevin Durant Over 2.5 threes
• LeBron James Over 24.5 points
• LeBron James Over 1.5 threes

Rockets vs Lakers odds for Game 2

• Spread: Rockets -4.5 | Lakers +4.5
• Moneyline: Rockets -205 | Lakers +170
• Over/Under: Over 207 | Under 207

Rockets vs Lakers betting trend to know

Houston is 22-8 SU off a loss this season, with those bounce-back spots producing a 12-17-1 Over/Under count. Find more NBA betting trends for Rockets vs. Lakers.

How to watch Rockets vs Lakers Game 2

Rockets vs Lakers latest injuries

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Houston Rockets vs Los Angeles Lakers

Game 2 – April 21, 2026

Location: Crypto.com arena, Los Angeles, CA

TV: NBC/Peacock

Radio:KBME Sports Talk 790 / KLTN 102.9 (en español)

Online: Peacock

Time: 9:30 PM CST

Probable Starting Lineups

Rockets: Reed Sheppard, Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Alperen Sengun

Lakers: Luke Kennard, Marcus Smart, Jake Laravia, Lebron James, Deandre Ayton

The playoffs continue tonight for the Rockets. The biggest question is the status of Forward Kevin Durant, as he is listed as a game time decision with his knee bruise. Honestly, even without Kevin Durant, this Houston team should win over a depleted Lakers team, but then again, Houston could put up another stinker offensively.

Hopefully Sengun, Jabari, and Amen Thompson all bounce back from their lackluster Game 1 performances. ( I am excluding Reed because to give him grace since it was his first real NBA playoff game). If not, the Rockets could be in trouble, and facing an 0-2 deficit before the series shifts to Houston this Friday.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s trophy haul keeps growing.

Gilgeous-Alexander, the Oklahoma City guard who is the reigning MVP and NBA Finals MVP, was the overwhelming and nearly unanimous pick as the Clutch Player of the Year for this season, the NBA announced Tuesday.

It’s the first of what could be several awards for Gilgeous-Alexander in the coming weeks. He’s the heavy favorite to win a second straight MVP trophy — and because he’s a finalist there, he’s also a lock to make the All-NBA team for a fourth straight year.

“This award means a lot,” Gilgeous-Alexander said on NBC Sports, which aired the award announcement. “To get this award, you have to help your team win games late and what I’m about more than anything is winning games.”

Gilgeous-Alexander got 96 of a possible 100 first-place votes. Jamal Murray of Denver was second, one point ahead of Anthony Edwards of Minnesota.

Edwards didn’t reach the 65-game eligibility standard for most league awards like MVP and the All-NBA team — and unsuccessfully appealed for a waiver that would have put him on those ballots — but his candidacy for the clutch award wasn’t affected by that rule.

Instead, the finalists for the clutch award were decided by a survey of the league’s coaches. That whittled the group down to 14 names, which were then placed onto the ballot that a panel of 100 reporters and broadcasters who cover the league filled out last week to decide the various awards.

Gilgeous-Alexander has been a contender for the clutch award since it was added to the league’s slate of trophies; he was third last season, eighth in 2024 and seventh in 2023.

And now, it’s his.

“I’m proud I get to hoist it,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “It means I’m effective out there.”

Gilgeous-Alexander becomes the fourth player to win the clutch award, which was added in tribute to Jerry West — the inspiration for the NBA’s logo and the player long known as “Mr. Clutch” as a nod to his exploits when the outcome of games was on the line.

De’Aaron Fox (then of Sacramento, now of San Antonio) was the first clutch award recipient in 2023, followed by Golden State’s Stephen Curry in 2024 and New York’s Jalen Brunson last season. Brunson was a nominee again this year, finishing fifth.

Detroit’s Cade Cunningham was fourth, followed by Brunson, Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey, the Los Angeles Lakers’ Luka Doncic, Houston’s Kevin Durant and the Los Angeles Clippers’ Kawhi Leonard.

Gilgeous-Alexander, Brunson and Jokic are now the only players to get votes in the clutch balloting in all four seasons of the award’s existence.

Curry, Boston’s Jayson Tatum and Dallas’ Kyrie Irving saw their three-year streaks as clutch vote-getters end because of injuries; Curry missed about half the season, Tatum missed most of the season and Irving was sidelined for the entire season.

For a play to be considered clutch, by the NBA’s definition, these are the criteria: The score differential has to be five points or less, and the game has to be in either the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or in overtime.

All three of the leading vote-getters had compelling statistical arguments for the award:

— Gilgeous-Alexander led the league with 175 points in clutch times, plus was ninth with 21 assists in those situations. The Thunder went 20-7 in the 27 clutch games in which he played, and outscored opponents by 93 points in those clutch situations with him on the floor.

— Edwards shot 56.5% from the field in clutch moments, the best of any of the league’s 19 players that had at least 85 clutch-time points this season.

— Murray was second in clutch points with 166 plus led the league with 30 clutch-time assists.

The clutch award was the second to be handed out this season. San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama was the unanimous winner of Defensive Player of the Year, which was announced Monday.

“It’s just very meaningful to me,” Wembanyama said Tuesday about being the first unanimous winner of the DPOY trophy. “It means that’s there no place for debate. It means that everybody agrees upon something.”

On Wednesday, the Sixth Man of the Year winner — either the Spurs’ Keldon Johnson, the Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. or Miami’s Jaime Jaquez Jr. — will be revealed. The league’s Sportsmanship Award winner will be announced Thursday, followed by Most Improved Player on Friday.

___

AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba

Here are the NBA playoff games for Tuesday, April 21, 2026:

• Boston Celtics at Miami Heat — 7:30 PM ET (TNT)
• Dallas Mavericks at Oklahoma City Thunder — 8:00 PM ET (NBA TV)
• Los Angeles Lakers at Phoenix Suns — 10:00 PM ET (TNT)

Enjoy the basketball!

The Los Angeles Lakers host Game 2 of their first-round NBA Playoffs series against the Houston Rockets on Tuesday, April 21, and while the Lakers will be without two of their most important players in Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, one of them is inching closer towards a return.

It was revealed during a report on ESPN’s NBA Today that Dončić and Reaves both began practicing with the Lakers on Monday, April 20. While Dončić is still considered out indefinitely, ESPN reports Reaves has been progressing, and there is optimism in the building that he could return towards the end of the series.

“The sense around the Lakers is that Austin Reaves is actually the one that’s further along than Luka Dončić in their respective rehab processes,” Shams Charania said on the broadcast. “… Remember early April here, he had a four-to-six-week timetable. So theoretically, that puts him on track late in this series, potentially early in the next series.”

KEVIN DURANT INJURY UPDATE: Will Rockets star play vs. Lakers Game 2?

The latest on the rehabs of Lakers star guards Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for NBA Today: pic.twitter.com/HA4sfuckrN

— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 21, 2026

NBA PLAYOFF BRACKET: Odds today, schedule and scores for every first-round series

Charania added that Reaves has begun one-on-one on-court work and is expected to continue his progression to three-on-three and five-on-five before a return to game action.

Dončić, meanwhile, is currently not expected to return in the first round.

Neither has played since April 2 due to a grade 2 left hamstring strain (Dončić) and a grade 2 left oblique strain (Reaves). Dončić flew to Spain in the last week of the regular season to undergo an injection procedure in hopes of accelerating the healing process in his hamstring, while Reaves remained in Los Angeles to rehab his oblique.

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Los Angeles Lakers injury updates: Austin Reaves making progress

We already knew Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was valuable. Now he’s certified clutch.

The NBA announced Tuesday that Gilgeous-Alexander is the winner of the 2025-26 Clutch Player of the Year award.

The honor is the third major individual award for the Oklahoma City guard, who was named league MVP and Finals MVP last season while leading the Thunder to their first NBA championship. Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist alongside three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama for this season’s MVP.

“To get this award, you have to help your team win games late,” Gilgeous-Alexander told NBC after winning the award. “That’s what I’m after more than anything, is winning games.

“My teammates trust me. My coaches trust me to put the ball in my hands in those positions. I try my best to deliver night in and night out, and I did enough of it this year.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was named CPOY over fellow finalists Jamal Murray and Anthony Edwards. He secured 96 of 100 first-place votes to win the award in a landslide. Murray finished in second place, one point ahead of Edwards.

De’Aaron Fox won the inaugural CPOY in 2022-23, and Stephen Curry and Jalen Brunson have won it since. Gilgeous-Alexander is now the fourth All-Star guard to win CPOY, which the NBA awards to the “player who best comes through for his teammates late in close games.”

The award is the newest of the NBA’s seven major end-of-season offerings and comes with the Jerry West Trophy.

What makes SGA ‘clutch’

Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 175 points in clutch situations, which are defined as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points. He did so while playing in just 27 games with clutch situations due in part to Oklahoma’s City’s NBA-best plus-11.1 average point differential.

But when the Thunder needed clutch scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered with more points than anyone else in the league. Take, for example, this dagger 3 to defeat the Western Conference rival Denver Nuggets in March.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot 51.5% from the field in the clutch and connected on 13 of his 37 3-point attempts (35.1%). He also finished ninth in the NBA with 21 clutch assists and was tied at 34th with four steals in the clutch.

Murray finished second in the league with 166 clutch points on 52.2% shooting in 177.4 clutch minutes. Edwards played considerably fewer clutch minutes (93.8) than either but finished sixth in the league with 135 clutch points on 56.5% shooting from the field, the best rate of any of the top 15 clutch scorers.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the subject of frequent criticism for his propensity to draw fouls and score at the free-throw line. But his game is much more than that, and he’s delivered repeatedly for a Thunder team seeking its second straight NBA championship.

We already knew Shai Gilgeous-Alexander was valuable. Now he’s certified clutch.

The NBA announced Tuesday that Gilgeous-Alexander is the winner of the 2025-26 Clutch Player of the Year award.

The honor is the third major individual award for the Oklahoma City guard, who was named league MVP and Finals MVP last season while leading the Thunder to their first NBA championship. Gilgeous-Alexander is also a finalist alongside three-time MVP Nikola Jokić and newly crowned Defensive Player of the Year Victor Wembanyama for this season’s MVP.

“To get this award, you have to help your team win games late,” Gilgeous-Alexander told NBC after winning the award. “That’s what I’m after more than anything, is winning games.

“My teammates trust me. My coaches trust me to put the ball in my hands in those positions. I try my best to deliver night in and night out, and I did enough of it this year.”

Gilgeous-Alexander was named CPOY over fellow finalists Jamal Murray and Anthony Edwards. He secured 96 of 100 first-place votes to win the award in a landslide. Murray finished in second place, one point ahead of Edwards.

De’Aaron Fox won the inaugural CPOY in 2022-23, and Stephen Curry and Jalen Brunson have won it since. Gilgeous-Alexander is now the fourth All-Star guard to win CPOY, which the NBA awards to the “player who best comes through for his teammates late in close games.”

The award is the newest of the NBA’s seven major end-of-season offerings and comes with the Jerry West Trophy.

What makes SGA ‘clutch’

Gilgeous-Alexander led the NBA with 175 points in clutch situations, which are defined as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime when the score is within five points. He did so while playing in just 27 games with clutch situations due in part to Oklahoma’s City’s NBA-best plus-11.1 average point differential.

But when the Thunder needed clutch scoring, Gilgeous-Alexander delivered with more points than anyone else in the league. Take, for example, this dagger 3 to defeat the Western Conference rival Denver Nuggets in March.

Gilgeous-Alexander shot 51.5% from the field in the clutch and connected on 13 of his 37 3-point attempts (35.1%). He also finished ninth in the NBA with 21 clutch assists and was tied at 34th with four steals in the clutch.

Murray finished second in the league with 166 clutch points on 52.2% shooting in 177.4 clutch minutes. Edwards played considerably fewer clutch minutes (93.8) than either but finished sixth in the league with 135 clutch points on 56.5% shooting from the field, the best rate of any of the top 15 clutch scorers.

Gilgeous-Alexander is the subject of frequent criticism for his propensity to draw fouls and score at the free-throw line. But his game is much more than that, and he’s delivered repeatedly for a Thunder team seeking its second straight NBA championship.