UNDATED (AP) — The Boston Celtics looked like a team in disarray 2 1/2 weeks ago. Not anymore.
It’s now an eight-game winning streak for the Celtics after Jayson Tatum furnished 38 points and 10 rebounds in a 105-95 victory over the Hawks.
The Celtics trailed by 10 until Tatum scored 16 points in the third quarter, helping Boston outscore Atlanta 43-23 in the period. The Celts were 13 of 18 during the quarter.
Robert Williams added 10 points and 14 boards, Jaylen Brown scored 17 points and Marcus Smart had 13.
Boston was a .500 team before the winning streak.
Trae Young had 30 points and 10 assists to lead Atlanta, which has lost four of five.
In the NBA’s only other game, Anthony Edwards scored 37 points in leading the Timberwolves to a 129-120 victory over the Pacers. Edwards became the fourth-youngest player in NBA history to reach the 2,500-point mark when he made his first basket of the game. Karl Anthony-Towns had 15 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota, while D’Angelo Russell had 23 points and six assists.
Bucks hopeful Connaughton is back before playoffs
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Bucks are optimistic that guard Pat Connaughton will return before the end of the regular season as he prepares to undergo surgery on his broken right hand.
Connaughton suffered the injury Thursday while fouling Chris Paul on a drive to the basket late in the third quarter of a 131-107 loss at Phoenix. The Bucks later confirmed he had a fourth metacarpal fracture on his right hand.
In other NBA news:
— Newly acquired Norman Powell is out indefinitely for the Clippers with a broken bone in his left foot. The team said Sunday that he fractured the medial sesamoid bone in his foot in Thursday’s loss at Dallas. No surgery is planned at this time. Powell joins injured All-Stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George on the sidelines.
