Hawks trim Celtics' series lead behind Young's 32-point double-double

Trae Young scored 32 points in his best game of the playoffs and the Atlanta Hawks gave themselves a glimmer of hope, beating the visiting Boston Celtics 130-122 Friday night to close the gap to 2-1 in the opening-round series.

The seventh-seeded Hawks will try to even the series against the second-seeded Celtics in Game 4 on Sunday night at State Farm Arena.

Jayson Tatum scored 29 points to lead Boston, which was barely challenged in the first two games of the series.

Young was under fire after making just 14 of 40 shots in Beantown. He was much better in Game 3, connecting on 12 of 22 attempts and doling out nine assists.

Dejounte Murray had another big game for the Hawks, scoring 25 points, including a three-pointer with 1:40 remaining that helped Atlanta protect a puny lead.

Unlike the first two games in Boston, where the Celtics pushed out to big leads and cruised to a pair of 13-point victories, the Hawks finally put up a fight.

Pumped up by a standing-room-only crowd, the Hawks built a 14-point lead — their biggest of the series — late in the first half.

But the Celtics responded with eight straight points and went to the locker room down 74-67.

It was Atlanta' first victory over Boston this season. The Hawks dropped all three regular-season meetings.

Barrett snaps slump, Knicks romp Cavs

Jalen Brunson scored 21 points, RJ Barrett broke out of a slump with 19 and the New York Knicks held the visiting Cleveland Cavaliers to the lowest point total in the NBA this season, rolling to a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series with a 99-79 victory Friday night.

Josh Hart added 13 points for the fifth-seeded Knicks, who host Game 4 on Sunday. They became the first team to allow fewer than 80 points during the regular season or post-season.

Donovan Mitchell scored 22 points for the Cavs, who never gave themselves a chance with their most inept offensive performance of the season. They hadn't been held below 80 points all season, with their worst effort 81 points, also at the Knicks on Dec. 4.

Barrett was just 6 for 25 in the first two games but his shot was falling and he aggressively drove to the basket to get himself going. Plus, some of the Cavs' 21 turnovers sent Barrett and the Knicks off to easy transition baskets.

It was just the second time the playoffs came to Madison Square Garden in the last 10 years and fans loved it, a game that looked more like something played by the beloved 1990s Knicks, who had the Garden rocking deep in many springs with their rugged brand of basketball.

Bodies crashed to the floor or into each other, and once in a while the ball went into the basket.

Nikola Jokic had his seventh career triple-double in the playoffs with 20 points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists for the Denver Nuggets, who fended off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-111 to take a 3-0 lead in the first-round NBA playoff series Friday night.

Michael Porter Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds and Jamal Murray added 18 points and nine assists as Denver withstood another dashing performance by Minnesota's Anthony Edwards to send a loud crowd of white-shirt-wearing fans home from another frustrating post-season loss.

Game 4 is here Sunday night.

Jokic leads Nuggets past Wolves for 3-0 series lead

Michael Porter Jr. had 25 points and nine rebounds and Canada's Jamal Murray added 18 points and nine assists as Denver withstood another dashing performance by Minnesota's Anthony Edwards to send a loud crowd of white-shirt-wearing fans home from another frustrating post-season loss.

Game 4 is here Sunday night.

Edwards scored 36 points to raise his series total to 95, Karl-Anthony Towns had 27 points after totalling only 21 points over the first two games and Rudy Gobert had 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolves, but a defensive lapse here and a rushed three-pointer there was enough to seal their fate against a well-rounded Nuggets team that's finally healthy enough for a run at the NBA finals.

Bruce Brown had 12 points to lead Denver's 29-10 edge in bench points, and the Nuggets shot a hard-to-beat 57% from the field.

With the Nuggets holding their first 2-0 lead in nine playoff series under Mike Malone, their message from the coach was to keep the throttle on full and not give the underdog Wolves extra confidence.