Trae’s late trey saves Atlanta

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Trae Young’s sensational buzzer-beating three-pointer lifted the Atlanta Hawks to a 124-121 victory over the Utah Jazz on Tuesday as Boston beat Denver in a battle of the last two National Basketball Association (NBA) champions.

At the end of a tight game, the crowd in Salt Lake City roared as Collin Sexton drilled a three-pointer to pull the Jazz level at 121-121 with four seconds remaining.

They appeared headed to overtime when Young unleashed his stunning shot from the half-court line — the third buzzer-beater of his career according to the Hawks.

Young finished the game with 24 points and 20 assists, helping the Hawks improve to 19-18 despite Lauri Markkanen’s 35 points for the Jazz.

In Denver, Jayson Tatum scored 29 points and Kristaps Porzingis added 25 as the reigning champion Boston Celtics triumphed 118-106 over the 2023 title holders Nuggets, who were without three-time NBA Most Valuable Player Nikola Jokic because of illness.

Porzingis scored 15 points in the first quarter to key Boston’s hot start, but their 37-25 lead evaporated in the second quarter and it was tied 57-57 at halftime.

Russell Westbrook scored 26 points to lead six Denver players to score in double figures. But the Celtics used a 15-0 scoring run in the fourth quarter to put the game away.

In New Orleans, Anthony Edwards scored 32 points with nine rebounds to lead the Minnesota Timberwolves to a 104-97 victory over the Pelicans, spoiling Pelicans star Zion Williamson’s return from a two-month injury absence.

Williamson scored 22 points with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Dejounte Murray led New Orleans with 29 points, but CJ McCollum had a rough night — scoring just five points on 1-for-14 shooting.

Quentin Grimes was the unlikely hero for Dallas as the injury-hit Mavericks outclassed LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-97, to snap a five-game losing streak.

Grimes came off the bench to score 23 points and grab nine rebounds, drilling six of the Mavericks’ 18 three-pointers.

Dallas, last season’s Western Conference champions, had gone 1-5 since losing Luka Doncic to a calf strain on Christmas Day. Still without the Slovenian star, they announced on Monday that Kyrie Irving would be sidelined for some time with a lower back sprain.

Down by as many as six in the second quarter, the Mavs closed the first half on an 11-0 scoring run to take a 55-50 lead and never trailed in the second half.

Anthony Davis scored 21 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Lakers and James added 18 points, 10 boards and eight assists.

But Dallas outrebounded the Lakers, 44-33, and with 11 offensive rebounds managed 15 second-chance points to the Lakers’ seven.

P.J. Washington scored 22 points, Spencer Dinwiddie added 19 and Klay Thompson chipped in 13 for Dallas, who bumped the Lakers from fifth place in the Western Conference.

“We knew we had to get back on track,” Grimes told broadcaster TNT.

“Came out with the right mindset after dropping five in a row, so good to get back on track.”