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This is an article version of the CBS Sports HQ AM Newsletter, the ultimate guide to every day in sports. You can sign up to get it in your inbox every weekday morning here.

🏀 Good morning to everyone but especially ...

THE DENVER NUGGETS

The Celtics are the strong favorite to win the NBA title. The Nuggets are the reigning champs, and on Thursday night they showed again they're not going to be giving the crown up willingly. Denver topped Boston, 115-109, in a potential NBA Finals preview that lived up to that billing.

On a night where both teams were ice-cold from deep, it was Nikola Jokic (32 points, 12 rebounds, 11 assists) taking over late with a dizzying display of scoring, passing and general ridiculousness. Denver's final two buckets were Jokic twirling for a layup over Kristaps Porzingis and then Jokic throwing an alley-oop to Aaron Gordon, whose thunderous dunks could have challenged anything we saw in the dunk contest. It's those late-game moments that show Jokic's greatest value, Brad Botkin writes.

  • Botkin: "This is the inevitability of Jokic. When it's time for a game to swing, it's going his way."

The Celtics, meanwhile, fought hard despite a quiet Jayson Tatum performance, with Jaylen Brown (41 points, 13 rebounds) leading the way. While it wasn't a win, it was encouraging to see some late-game fight, Sam Quinn says.

I'd definitely take seven games between these two in June.

😌 Honorable mentions

🏀 And not such a good morning for ...

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KARL-ANTHONY TOWNS AND THE MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES

On pace for one of the best seasons in franchise history, the Timberwolves got some truly awful news: Karl-Anthony Towns has a torn meniscus, will have surgery and will be re-evaluated in a month. He's expected to return early in the playoffs.

This stinks. It stinks for Minnesota, which leads the West at 44-19 and began a crucial six-game road trip Thursday (though it won thanks to one of the best blocks you'll ever see by Anthony Edwards). It stinks for Towns, who is averaging 22.1 points and shooting a career-high 42.3% from 3. Plus, he had finally been healthy and gelling alongside Rudy Gobert.

Here are the Timberwolves' offensive numbers this season:

  • Towns on court: 116.5 offensive efficiency (would be 15th in NBA)
  • Towns off court: 106.4 offensive efficiency (would be last in NBA)

While Minnesota's league-best defense could be even better without Towns on the court, that pales in comparison to the vast offensive drop-off. Minnesota's attack was already unreliable. Now, it's in dire straits, Jack Maloney writes.

  • Maloney: "Edwards is already averaging 26.4 points per game with a 32.2 usage rate. How much more can you realistically expect from him? Gobert cannot take on a bigger offensive role even if he wanted to. Naz Reid's touches will go up, but can he maintain his efficiency when that happens? Mike Conley and Jaden McDaniels are the only other players scoring in double figures. Conley's offense is extremely inconsistent at this stage of his career and McDaniels has never been known as a scorer."

There's never a "good" injury. But when one comes late in the season -- a season with so much hope at that -- it's a massive disappointment that leaves huge questions.

😕 Not so honorable mentions

🏈 Are NFL safeties becoming the defensive versions of running backs?

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The Broncos' teardown continued with the release of Justin Simmons, a two-time Pro Bowl safety and four-time second-team All-Pro. His release saves Denver $14.5 million as the team looks to start over in the wake of Russell Wilson's impending release.

While we can talk (and already have talked) about the Broncos at length -- Sean Payton's plan better be right, Cody Benjamin notes -- we're also seeing a league-wide trend emerge: the devaluation of safeties. Here are some notable ones set to hit free agency:

  • Justin Simmons
  • Xavier McKinney
  • Kamren Curl
  • Micah Hyde
  • Jordan Poyer
  • Quandre Diggs
  • Geno Stone
  • Chauncey Gardner-Johnson
  • Darnell Savage
  • Jordan Whitehead

That's a good list. A really good list. Several of those players were released recently, and the safety market could be going the way of the running back, Jonathan Jones writes.

  • Jones: "More than $103 million across the league has been saved in 2024 cash salary at the safety position ... most by far of any position group, outpacing the cornerback salary shed by early $40 million. ... This is the way the NFL is trending right now. Quarterbacks aren't throwing the deep ball like they used to. The last four years, the league has seen less than eight passes per game of 20-plus yards down the field after a decade of being above eight per game."

💰 Bears re-sign Jaylon Johnson to four-year, $76 million deal

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Days ahead of free agency, the Bears made sure one of their very best isn't going anywhere. Cornerback Jaylon Johnson signed a four-year extension worth up to $76 million. Johnson had received the franchise tag Tuesday.

  • Johnson, 24, was a Pro Bowl selection and second-team All-Pro last season, when he had four interceptions and was Pro Football Focus' top-graded corner.
  • The deal comes with $54 million guaranteed and $43.8 million guaranteed at signing; the latter ranks third among corners, behind Denzel Ward and Marshon Lattimore.
  • It's another strong defensive investment by Chicago after signing LB Tremaine Edmunds last offseason and extending DE Montez Sweat in November.

This was one of several key decisions for the Bears this offseason, a list that includes Justin Fields' status, the No. 1 and No. 9 overall picks and what to do with plenty of cap space.

📺 What we're watching this weekend

It's March. So we're watching college basketball. A lot of it. We have women's conference tournaments (ACC | Big 12 | Big East | Big Ten | SEC | Pac-12) and men's conference tournaments galore.

Friday

🏀 No. 24 Louisville vs. No. 14 Notre Dame (W), 11 a.m. on ACC Network
🏀 Texas A&M vs. No. 1 South Carolina (W), noon on SEC Network
🏀 Maryland vs. No. 4 Ohio State (W), 12:30 p.m. on BTN
🏀 Auburn vs. No. 8 LSU (W), 6 p.m. on SEC Network
🏀 Penn State vs. No. 3 Iowa (W), 6:30 p.m. on BTN
🏀 VCU at No. 25 Dayton (M), 7 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 Timberwolves at Cavaliers, 7:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Bucks at Lakers, 10 p.m. on ESPN

Saturday

🏀 Memphis at Florida Atlantic (M), noon on CBS
🏒 Hurricanes at Devils, 12:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 Texas A&M at Ole Miss (M), 2 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Oklahoma at Texas (M), 2 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Penguins at Bruins, 3 p.m. on ABC
🏀 No. 4 Tennessee at No. 16 Kentucky (M), 4 p.m. on CBS
🏀 No. 14 Kansas at No. 1 Houston (M), 4 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 Bulls at Clippers, 4 p.m. on NBA TV
🏀 No. 11 Baylor at Texas Tech (M), 6 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 No. 7 North Carolina at No. 9 Duke (M), 6:30 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 2 UConn at Providence (M), 8 p.m. on Fox
🏀 Celtics at Suns, 8:30 p.m. on ABC
🏀 New Mexico at No. 22 Utah State (M), 8:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network
🏀 UNLV at Nevada (M), 10:30 p.m. on CBS Sports Network

Sunday

🏀 Big Ten Tournament Final (W), noon on CBS
🏀 Big South Championship Final (M), noon on ESPN2
🏀 Wisconsin at No. 3 Purdue (M), 12:30 p.m. on Fox
🏀 ACC Tournament Final (W), 1 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Oilers at Penguins, 1 p.m. on TNT
🏀 MVC Tournament Final (M), 2 p.m. on CBS
🏀 ASUN Championship Final (M), 2 p.m. on ESPN2
🏀 SEC Tournament Final (W), 3 p.m. on ESPN
🏒 Predators at Wild, 3:30 p.m. on TNT
🏀 Michigan State at Indiana (M), 4:30 p.m. on CBS
🏀 Pac-12 Tournament Final (W), 5 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 76ers at Knicks, 7 p.m. on ESPN
🏀 No. 12 Illinois at Iowa (M), 7 p.m. on FS1
⚽ USWNT vs. Brazil, 8:15 p.m. on Paramount+
🏀 Timberwolves at Lakers, 9:30 p.m. on ESPN