Sam Sonksen

Bo Nix is OUT for the rest of the season. The Patriots GENERATIONAL Mickey Mouse path to the Super Bowl will continue.

THUNDER HOLD ON, RISE UP For nearly a month, the Minnesota Timberwolves have held off everyone in the West to keep a lock on the top spot. But heading into the first full week of March, after two straight Minnesota losses and just 0.5 games separating the top three teams this late in the year for the second time ever… The Western Conference has a new No. 1 team: the Oklahoma City Thunder, after a 118-110 win over the Phoenix Suns. ▪️ The Hard Way: OKC was up by 24 in the third quarter, but watched the Suns chip away to take a six-point lead at the 8:40 mark of the fourth … only for Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (11) and Jalen Williams (6) to combine for 17 the rest of the way, as OKC outscored PHX 26-12 ▪️ SGA: “Basketball is a game of runs, so it’s ups and downs, you just got to try to turn the tide and you only do that by taking possession by possession … I try to keep the same mentality no matter what’s going on.” ▪️ Star guards go off: SGA dropped 35 in the win, while Bradley Beal (31) led a Suns team that was without Devin Booker (ankle) ▪️ Nurkic vs. The Boards: Jusuf Nurkic pulled down 31 rebounds – more than 60% of the Suns’ total rebounds (50) – on the way to a franchise-record for boards Clippers Grind Out Win vs. Wolves: In a game tied for the third-fewest combined points this NBA season, Kawhi Leonard scored 32 and the LA Clippers held the Minnesota Timberwolves to just 58 points in the final three quarters to win, 89-88. ▪️ Taste of their own medicine: Minny led 30-18 after one. LA rallied to win the second quarter 31-16, holding Minnesota – the league’s No. 1 defense – to just 35% shooting (23% from beyond the arc) from that point forward. Ant Edwards led the Wolves with 27 ▪️ Shaking up streaks: The win snapped Minnesota’s four-game win streak over the Clippers (two already earlier this year), gave LA its first back-to-back wins since Feb. 5 and handed the Wolves back-to-back L’s for just the third time this year How close is this race? The league’s only seen a half-game differential between a conference’s top 3 teams after Mar. 4 one time before: two years ago, when Boston, Miami, Milwaukee and Philly were separated by a half game on Mar. 28. Going back to 1970-71, the first year of conferences, three teams have been within 1.5 games of first place on the morning of Mar. 4 just six times. ▪️ 1981-82, East: 1 game (BOS, MIL, PHI) ▪️ 1993-94, West: 1.5 games (SEA, HOU, SA) ▪️ 1998-99, East: 1 game (ORL, IND, MIA) ▪️ 2001-02, West: 1.5 games (SAC, LAL, DAL) ▪️ 2002-03, East: 1.5 games (IND, NJ, DET) ▪️ 2007-08, West: 1.5 games (SA, LAL, NO)