Trae Young and the Atlanta Hawks have struggled under the weight of increased expectations.

Finally, they looked like the team that made a surprising playoff run last season.

Young scored a season-best 42 points and the Atlanta Hawks snapped a six-game losing streak, beating the Milwaukee Bucks 120-100 on Sunday night in a rematch of struggling teams that met in the Eastern Conference final.

James Harden highlighted a 39-point, 12-assist performance with a game-sealing 27-foot 3-pointer with 29 seconds left, and the Brooklyn Nets rallied for a 120-112 victory over the reeling New Orleans Pelicans on Friday night after they’d blown a 21-point lead.

Kevin Durant scored 28 for the Nets, who’ve won seven of their last eight, and Joe Harris scored 24 after opening his night by hitting his first seven shots, including six from 3, to help hand the Pelicans their ninth straight loss.

Nikola Jokic had 22 points, 19 rebounds and 10 assists in his return from a one-game suspension for his second triple-double of the season, leading the Denver Nuggets to a 105-96 win over the struggling Atlanta Hawks on Friday night.

Jokic, the reigning NBA MVP, served the ban for his late-game shove of Markieff Morris in Denver’s win over Miami on Monday. Morris was fined for his role in the exchange of hard fouls.

When the Milwaukee Bucks scratched Giannis Antetokounmpo 90 minutes before the tipoff, Boston coach Ime Udoka worried that his team would expect an easy night against the rest of the defending NBA champions.

It took the Celtics a while to snap out of it.

“There’s always a natural letdown. That was the message before the game,” Udoka said after Boston beat Milwaukee 122-113 in overtime Friday night. “The other guys are going to play hard and come in with a ‘nothing to lose’ attitude, and they did.”

Malcolm Brogdon scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points for Utah, which lost at home for the first time this season. Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 11 rebounds, but they were among four players ejected in the fourth quarter after a scuffle.

T.J. McConnell added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench for the Pacers. Myles Turner had 13 points and nine rebounds in Indiana’s second road win of the season.

Malcolm Brogdon scored a season-high 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Indiana Pacers to a 111-110 victory over the Utah Jazz on Thursday night.

Donovan Mitchell scored 26 points for Utah, which lost at home for the first time this season. Rudy Gobert added 19 points and 11 rebounds, but they were among four players ejected in the fourth quarter after a scuffle.

T.J. McConnell added 21 points, eight rebounds and five assists off the bench for the Pacers. Myles Turner had 13 points and nine rebounds in Indiana’s second road win of the season.

After losing four of their first five games, the Los Angeles Clippers are rolling. And they’re showing they can play with the lead when Paul George needs a breather.

George scored 27 points, Reggie Jackson added all of his 22 in the second half and the Clippers hung on to beat the Miami Heat 112-109 Thursday night for their sixth straight win.

Eric Bledsoe had 21 points and Ivica Zubac finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Clippers, who trailed by 17 points in the first quarter when Miami’s Bam Adebayo scored 19 points.

The Phoenix Suns rolled up 48 points in just the first quarter with a smorgasbord of 3-pointers, dunks and mid-range jumpers that buried the Denver Nuggets.

Cam Johnson admits it was pretty impressive. He still believes the Suns can do better.

“I think we can get to 50,” Johnson said.

Expectations are understandably high for the Suns these days, who eased to their 12th straight victory by beating the short-handed Nuggets 126-97 on Sunday night.

Cade Cunningham’s final shot of his most recent game was a 3-point try from the left wing as time was running out against the Brooklyn Nets, an attempt that never got anywhere near the rim.

Kevin Durant swatted it away with ease.

And weirdly, that was a good thing for the Detroit Pistons.

The fallout from the scuffle between reigning MVP Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets and Markieff Morris from the Miami Heat continued Tuesday when the brothers of the two players who starred in the dustup decided to take their anger to Twitter.

Eventually, even one of their mothers apparently got involved in an effort to calm things down. The NBA undoubtedly will have more to say as well, with fines, suspensions or both likely to be announced before long. And Morris will miss at least one game because of the injury he sustained.