Tatum, Brown help Celtics break Nuggets

Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown fueled a 31-3 run that helped the Boston Celtics put the skids on the NBA’s hottest team with a 105-87 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Sunday.

The Nuggets looked well on their way to their ninth straight victory when they took a 79-65 lead in the third quarter on a 3-pointer by Facundo Campazzo.

Boston outscored the Nuggets 40-8 the rest of the way. The Celtics had been held to 16 first-quarter points and trailed by 14 early on.

Brown started the epic run with a nifty bucket and Tatum provided the biggest highlights, including eight straight points on a trio of free throws, a jumper and a 3-pointer.

Tatum finished with 28 points two days after a career-best 53-point performance against Minnesota, and Brown had 20. Tatum (illness) and Brown (sore left knee) starred despite being listed as questionable before tip-off.

Michael Porter Jr. led Denver with 20 points. Nikola Jokic had 17 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds. HAWKS 105, HORNETS 101 » Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 32 points on a careerhigh eight 3-pointers and the Atlanta Hawks battled back from a 10-point fourth quarter deficit to beat the Charlotte Hornets 105-101 ON Sunday without Trae Young.

BUCKS 124, MAGIC 87 » Khris Middleton scored 21 points, Bobby Portis added 16 points, including four 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks defeated the Orlando Magic 124-87 on Sunday night to end a three-game losing streak.

Milwaukee was again without star Giannis Antetokounmpo, but it mattered little as Middleton shot 8 of 13 from the field and added eight rebounds and five assists.

PELICANS 116, CAVALIERS 109 » Zion Williamson scored 38 points and Brandon Ingram had 27 points and eight assists in rallying the New Orleans Pelicans to a victory over the injury-plagued Cleveland Cavaliers.

SPURS 119, MAVERICKS 117 » DeMar DeRozan hit the tiebreaking jumper with 0.5 seconds left, giving him 27 of his 33 points in the second half and lifting San Antonio past Dallas.

PACERS 132, GRIZZLIES 125 » Caris LeVert scored 34 points, Malcolm Brogdon and Donantas Sabonis fell just short of triple-doubles and Indiana held off Memphis.

Sabonis finished with 18 points, 15 rebounds and nine assists,

TIMBERWOLVES 121, BULLS 117 » Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points and 12 rebounds, D’Angelo Russell scored 27 points and Minnesota beat Chicago.

Ricky Rubio connected on five of his six 3-point attempts and had 17 points.T