Sports
The NBA’s Top Three Teams Are Inevitable — Just Like March Madness Letdowns
The jockeying for playoff position in the NBA remains highly entertaining.
It’s so captivating, it reminds me of conference tournaments in college basketball.
Those games are the best — teams putting everything they have into every game for fear it might be their last. Or worse yet, relegation to the CBI.
Then reality sets in …
Duke 85, Alabama 65.
Auburn 78, Michigan 65.
Florida 87, Maryland 71.
Houston 69, Tennessee 50.
And here I thought those losers were good.
Turns out, those weren’t great basketball showcases leading into the NCAA Tournament. Just competitive.
What’s that have to do with the NBA? Everything, actually.
The Pacers and Rockets are rolling. The Magic and Warriors suddenly look strong. The Knicks, Bucks, Lakers, Nuggets …
Nope. I’m not falling for this again.
The NBA has itself a Duke, an Auburn and a Florida this season. The only thing lacking is a Houston — and that’s OK, because they’re kinda boring.
There’s no way — repeat, NO WAY — the Cavaliers and Celtics don’t meet in the Eastern Conference finals.
The Cavaliers are Auburn. The dominant team in the regular season, yet people never really believed in them. But believe it, people. Auburn made the semifinals. The Cavaliers will, too.
The Celtics are Duke. The team people like to root against because they’re stuffy and easily the most talented. They already have enough banners. And don’t look now, but they should be the overwhelming favorite to hang another.
The Thunder are Florida. The out-of-nowhere team that can’t possibly have enough postseason experience to go all the way. But sometimes, what you don’t know can’t hurt you.
And the rest of the NBA? They’re Mount St. Mary’s. Man, they were fun to watch in the conference tournament. But then the bright lights came on and the makeup melted.
Can one of the other 13 teams that will make the NBA playoffs pull off the colossal upset? It surely won’t happen in the East, where the six other quarterfinalists could merge rosters and still lose 4-2 to the Cavaliers and 4-1 to the Celtics in the Eastern semis.
There’s only one scenario that could derail the Big Three …
If the Thunder are to be denied their spot in the NBA Finals, here’s how it’s going to have to happen:
Round 1: They get bullied.
Thunder boss Sam Presti has brilliantly molded his roster. Adding a bodyguard (Isaiah Hartenstein) for fragile co-star Chet Holmgren was a stroke of genius.
If Holmgren can stay healthy, the Thunder will make the Finals. A first-round matchup against a soft team like the Warriors, Grizzlies or Kings would be ideal.
But a wrestling match with the Timberwolves would be a disaster.
You remember the T’wolves. They slayed the giant — the Nuggets — last season and have the depth of big guys to pound the Thunder up front. That’s bad news for Holmgren, who might survive to see Round 2, but not without a limp and multiple ice bags.
Round 2: They get LeBronned.
The Thunder don’t have a good matchup for Luka Doncic. Over seven games, they’ll try different things, and might stumble into something.
But they could play 70 games and never find someone to deal with LeBron at playoff time.
The Lakers are unlikely to go far in the playoffs because they don’t have a big man. But against the Thunder, that could work in their favor.
Holmgren is going to have to guard somebody, and there’s no way that’s going to be LeBron.
Hartenstein is going to have to guard somebody. Take that back. No way the big oaf sees the light of day in this series.
Softened up by Minnesota’s big men, Holmgren will get pummeled by LeBron. Maybe snapped in two. The Thunder might survive the series, but not unscathed.
Round 3: They draw a joker.
When all the pieces are in place, the Nuggets are a better team than the Thunder.
Nikola Jokic will outperform Shai Gilgeous-Alexander on the big stage.
Jamal Murray is a far better supporting weapon than anything Oklahoma City has.
And the Nuggets have multiple defensive whizzes to throw at SGA.
The Thunder will be exhausted by the time they reach the thin air of Denver for Game 6. The good news: The flight home will have air masks. And with this roster, there’s always next year. Heck, next decade.
How can this happen?
The Timberwolves must fall into the play-ins and finish eighth.
The Lakers must drop to fourth or fifth.
And the Nuggets must finish second or third.
All still possible.
And if the 8-4-3 trifecta hits …
C’mon. Do you really think Florida is going to lose?
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on March 1
