Jalen Green makes eight 3s with 38 points to help Rockets even series with 109-94 win over Warriors

HOUSTON (AP) — In his playoff debut this weekend Jalen Green admitted that playoff jitters got the best of him.

“The lights were bright, the crowd was here, the court looked huge,” he said. “So I couldn’t really get a chance to settle in. My legs was a little shaky.”

Things were much different Wednesday night.

Green made eight 3-pointers and scored 38 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 109-94 victory over the Golden State Warriors in a testy matchup to even the first-round Western Conference series at one game apiece.

“I feel like a did a good job of answering back," he said. “From the beginning my whole mindset from today was to go in and be aggressive and get back to being myself.”

The seventh-seeded Warriors never led and played short-handed for most of the night after Jimmy Butler left with a pelvis contusion after a hard fall on a foul late in the first quarter.

Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, rebounded from a flop in his playoff debut, when he scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, with a dominant Game 2.

His eight 3-pointers were two more than the No. 2-seeded Rockets made on 6-of-29 shooting in a 95-85 Game 1 loss.

Alperen Sengun had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets. Tari Eason had 14 points off the bench.

Coach Ime Udoka raved about the combination of Green and Sengun.

“When they’re both rolling, we’re hard to beat,” he said.

Game 2 is Saturday night at Golden State.

Stephen Curry had 20 points and nine assists for the Warriors and become the 11th player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career playoff points. He finished the night with 4,017.

“He did a great job,” coach Steve Kerr said. “We just didn’t have enough tonight.”

Houston led by 20 with about 10 minutes left before the Warriors used a 9-0 run, with two 3s from Quinten Post, run to get within 11. Jalen Green was called for a flagrant foul on Draymond Green at the end of that run after he flailed an arm into his face.

The Rockets then used an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by a step-back 3 from Green, to extend the lead to 99-80 with 5 1/2 minutes remaining. Draymond Green received a technical foul in that stretch for arguing with officials and Eason received one for throwing a towel in an “unsportsmanlike manner.”

The loss of Butler, acquired from Miami in a February trade, was a huge blow to the Warriors after he had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the series opener.

Kerr said it's too soon to speculate about the availability of Butler for Game 3. He'll have an MRI on Thursday.

“Hopefully Jimmy will be able to play,” he said. “But if not we have to go through our options and put together a plan.”

On top of Butler’s injury, the Warriors were also hampered by Brandin Podziemski’s stomach ailment.

He missed most of the first half dealing with the problem and was scoreless in 14 minutes after scoring 14 points in Game 1.

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Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) is escorted back to the bench by a coach and guard Buddy Hield (7) after a brief scuffle with the Houston Rockets during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green yells at Houston Rockets fans from the bench after leaving the game during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) reacts after a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr instructs on the sideline during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) reacts after he was fouled scoring a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka talks to official Courtney Kirkland after a call during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors guard Brandin Podziemski (2) tries to get control of a ball against Houston Rockets guard Aaron Holiday (0) as Warriors forward Kevon Looney (5) looks on during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III falls towards the court after being fouled by Houston Rockets' Amen Thompson in 1st quarter of Game 2 of First Round of NBA Playoffs in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) shoots over Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors forward Draymond Green (23) defends against Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Houston Rockets guard Amen Thompson (1) reacts after dunking the ball against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, center, battles for a loose ball against Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun, left, and, Rockets guard Jalen Green, right during the first half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

Golden State Warriors' Jimmy Butler III writhes in pain after injuring himself in 1st quarter against Houston Rockets in Game 2 of First Round of NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center in Houston, Texas on Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (Scott Strazzante/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Houston Rockets guard Jalen Green (4) reacts after a basket against the Golden State Warriors during the second half of Game 2 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series against the Houston Rockets in Houston, Wednesday, April 23, 2025. (AP Photo/Karen Warren)

NEW YORK (AP) — The R&B singer Cassie testified Wednesday that her ex-boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs kept her in a cycle of abuse and exploitation by threatening to release videos of her engaging in “freak-off” encounters with male sex workers that he orchestrated.

Addressing the court for a second day in Combs' federal sex trafficking trial in Manhattan, Cassie said she couldn't reject Combs' demands and continued participating in the encounters despite being disgusted and humiliated by having sex with strangers. She said she was scared that Combs would ruin her life and make her “look like a slut” by releasing the videos.

“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone," said Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura.

The jury is expected to watch some of the videos during the trial, possibly later Wednesday. They will not be visible to the public, and jurors will wear headphones in the courtroom so no one else can hear the audio.

Prosecutors have accused Combs of exploiting his status as a powerful music executive to violently force Cassie and other women to take part in the drugged-up sex parties. Combs is charged with five counts, including sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. He denies all of the allegations.

Combs’ attorneys have acknowledged that he could be violent, but they say the sex he engaged in was consensual and that nothing he did amounted to sex trafficking or racketeering.

Combs’ lawyers were expected to begin cross-examining Cassie later Wednesday, when they would get the chance to challenge her credibility or poke holes in her account of what happened.

Also Wednesday, prosecutors showed Cassie a binder of photos and she identified 13 as male sex workers she said she recruited at Combs' behest for freak-offs in Las Vegas, Miami and Los Angeles. She said she had sex with all of them, though she couldn’t remember all of their names. She identified a half-dozen other escorts in court on Tuesday.

The day's testimony began with Cassie continuing to describe a vicious beating Combs gave her that was caught on surveillance video at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.

The video showed Combs hitting, kicking and attempting to drag Cassie back to their room. She said it happened as she was leaving a freak-off. After the footage was leaked last year, Combs apologized.

Cassie said the assault left her with a black eye, swollen lip and other bruises. After she left the hotel, she said her friend called police but when they arrived she declined to reveal who had injured her and the officers left.

"In that moment, I didn’t want to hurt him that way,” she said. “I wasn’t ready.”

During her first day of testimony, she spent hours recounting grotesque and humiliating details of her life with Combs, including the many freak-offs that were held over a decade until about 2017 or 2018. She also said Combs beat her numerous times.

The freak-offs took place in private, often in dark hotel rooms, unlike Combs’ very public white parties in the Hamptons that attracted A-list celebrities.

On Wednesday, Cassie testified that she would try to recover from freak-offs by taking IV fluids, getting massages and having a chef cook meals. She said she developed an opioid addiction from using them after freak-offs as a coping mechanism.

She said after the encounters, she felt emotionally “just really empty and I felt just gross.” She said she also “felt like I did my job.”

Cassie met Combs in 2005, when she was 19 and just at the start of a career as a singer, model and actor. She had a hit song, “Me & U,” in 2006 off an album released by Combs' Bad Boy Records.

Combs, who was 37 when they met, nurtured her career early on and also became her boyfriend for a decade.

Cassie left Combs' record label in 2019 and then sued him in 2023, accusing him of years of physical and sexual abuse. The suit was settled within hours but dozens of similar legal claims followed, sparking the criminal investigation against him.

Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted. The trial is expected to last about two months.

Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.

Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, second from left, listen as witness Cassie Ventura, far right, answers questions from assistant US Attorney Emily Johnson, center, with Judge Arun Subramanian presiding in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, right, sit at the defense table during witness testimony in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)

Cassie Ventura wipes tears from her eye while testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)