Celtics 100, Nuggets 99: Avery Bradley scored eight of his 18 points in the final 3 1/2 minutes as visiting Boston pulled out a tight win over Denver.

Bradley went 4-of-5 from 3-point range, including a pair of go-ahead 3-pointers down the stretch, and Brandon Bass had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Celtics. Jared Sullinger scored 14 points and Tyler Zeller added 11 off the bench as Boston earned back-to-back wins for the first time since a three-game run from Dec. 15-19.

Jameer Nelson, who totaled 29 points in six games with the Celtics before being traded to the Nuggets, collected 23 points and seven assists against his former team while starting in place of Ty Lawson. Arron Afflalo scored 20 points, J.J. Hickson collected 15 points and 14 boards and Kenneth Faried had 11 and 14 for Denver.

Bass knocked down a pair of free throws with 7:33 left to give Boston an 86-80 lead but Nelson’s 3-pointer capped a 7-0 run to put the Nuggets back in front. Bradley’s 3-pointer with 1:33 to play put the Celtics up 98-96 and his jumper with 25.9 seconds remaining made it a 100-97 gap, and Nelson was off the mark on a potential game-winner after Hickson’s tip cut it to one.

The Nuggets led by as much as 10 points in the first quarter and took a 48-42 edge into the half before pushing it out to 61-49 4 1/2 minutes into the third. The Celtics responded with an 18-6 run and knotted it at 67 on Marcus Smart’s 3-pointer before taking a 75-74 advantage into the fourth.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Lawson was away from the team after being arrested early in the morning on suspicion of DUI. … The Celtics lost 24 straight road games against Western Conference teams before winning at Portland and at Denver on back-to-back nights. … Nuggets F Danilo Gallinari (knee) returned from a 15-game absence and scored four points on 1-of-7 shooting in 17 minutes off the bench.