Houston’s Chris Paul was ejected with 4.4 seconds left for a second technical. Harden scored 35 points and Eric Gordon 27 after both struggled early finding their shooting strokes for the cold-shooting Rockets. They shot 14 for 47 from long range and were without reserve guard Austin Rivers because of an illness. Jaylen Brown chipped in with 19 points and Gordon Hayward had 13 off the bench for the Celtics. Boston controlled the game for long stretches and played stingy defence against MVP candidate Giannis Antetokoumpo, who scored 22 points but shot just 7 for 21.

Source: National Post April 28, 2019 22:30 UTC