Nets halt skid against Celtics

D'Angelo Russell scored 18 of his 34 points in the third quarter and the host Brooklyn Nets ended a 10-game losing streak to Boston with a 109-102 victory on Monday night, sending the Celtics to a winless three-game road trip.

With Kyrie Irving nursing a bruised right quadriceps, the Nets blew open the game with a 15-0 run in the third quarter and outscored the Celtics 44-21 in the period.

Jarrett Allen added 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Nets, who have won nine of their past 10 home games. Rookie Rodions Kurucs also scored 19.

Jayson Tatum scored 34 for the Celtics, who dropped games at Miami and Orlando to start their trip. Jaylen Brown added 22 points.

The game didn’t get away from the Celtics until the third, when Russell hit three 3-pointers in the 15-0 burst that made it 76-59.

ELSEWHERE

Cavaliers: The NBA has cleared Cleveland of any wrongdoing in their brief alliance with forward Patrick McCaw.

At the urging of the Warriors, the league investigated Cleveland’s signing of McCaw as a restricted free agent before releasing him. McCaw played two seasons with the defending champions but did not re-sign with them last summer. The Cavs signed him to a two-year, $6 million offer sheet last month the Warriors chose not to match. McCaw played in three games for the Cavs and was waived before his contract became guaranteed. He signed with Toronto last week.

LATE SUNDAY

Nuggets 116, Trail Blazers 113: Nikola Jokic scored a season-high 40, Jamal Murray fought through a bloody lip to add 24 and host Denver pushed its record to 29-13.

Jokic added 10 rebounds and eight assists, just missing his sixth-triple double of the season.

The Nuggets lead the Western Conference at the halfway mark for the first time since 1977.