Dec 23, 2018 3 min read

Kyrie Irving scored 25 points, Jayson Tatum had 17 and the Boston Celtics ended a three-game skid with a 119-103 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday night.

Al Horford returned for Boston after missing seven games with a sore left knee and had 10 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes. Marcus Morris had 12 points and eight rebounds, and Daniel Theis scored 10 points.

Boston was coming off a 120-107 loss at home to Milwaukee on Friday, which prompted a closed-door meeting in the locker room. The Celtics came out Sunday looking much more like the team that had won eight straight before the skid.

The Celtics never trailed, shot 50 percent and outrebounded the Hornets 47-37.

Kemba Walker led Charlotte with 21 points. Jeremy Lamb was the only other starter for the Hornets to score in double figures with 14 points. Willy Hernangomez added 19 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.

After a tight first quarter, the Celtics blew it open in the second, starting with eight straight points during a 14-1 run. Boston made 23 of 44 shots in the second quarter and took a 68-47 lead into halftime.

The third quarter was more of the same, with Boston opening on a 12-4 run and taking an 80-53 lead when Irving drove for a layup while drawing a foul with 6:57 left in the period.

Chicago 112, Cleveland 92: Lauri Markkanen scored 31 points and the Chicago Bulls won consecutive games for the first time this season, beating the Cleveland Cavaliers 112-92.

Markkanen had 14 points in the third quarter, including a four-point play late in the period that sparked an 18-5 run in the game between the teams that began the tied for last in the Eastern Conference.

Miami 115, Orlando 91: Tyler Johnson scored 20 of his 25 points in the third quarter as Miami defeated the Orlando Magic 115-91 Sunday and delivered Heat coach Eric Spoelstra his 500th coaching victory.

Justise Winslow added 22 points and Josh Richardson finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds for Miami, which beat Orlando for the first time in three tries this season.

Indiana 105, Washington 89: Myles Turner had 18 points and 17 rebounds and the Indiana Pacers beat the sluggish Washington Wizards 105-89.

The Wizards were coming off a triple-overtime win over Phoenix in Washington the previous night. They shot a season-low 36.8 percent. The Pacers had seven players in double-figure scoring. Domantas Sabonis had 15 points and 10 rebounds, and Bojan Bogdanovic scored 13 of his 14 points in the first half.

Sacramento 122, New Orleans 117: Willie Cauley-Stein had 22 points and a career-high 17 rebounds, Buddy Hield scored 28 points and the Sacramento Kings overcame an 11-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the reeling New Orleans Pelicans 122-117. Bogdan Bogdanovic scored 24 points, and De’Aaron Fox added 19 points and 11 assists.