NBA Berlin spotlight: Franz Wagner, Magic and Grizzlies heat up preseason while Celtics, Nuggets and Jokic shape the MVP race
24.02.2026 - 08:09:15 | ad-hoc-news.de
The NBA Berlin spotlight is getting louder, even before the league lands in Germany again. While fans in the capital circle Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies as the next big European showcase for the Wagner brothers, the action back in the States over the last 24 to 48 hours reshaped the playoff picture, reloaded the MVP race and delivered the kind of late-night drama that keeps League Pass junkies awake until sunrise.
[Check live stats & scores here]
From Nikola Jokic casually dropping another stat-stuffed masterclass for the Denver Nuggets, to Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics tightening their grip on the East, to the latest updates around Ja Morant and the Memphis Grizzlies, the league’s nightly drama is already setting the stage for when those stars, and Europe’s own Franz and Moritz Wagner, bring that show to an NBA Berlin night.
Last night’s scoreboard: contenders send a message
On a night packed with movement in the standings, it felt less like a random midseason slate and more like a sneak preview of playoff intensity. Every possession mattered, every rotation was magnified and every box score told a story about where the title race is headed.
In the West, Denver once again looked like the gold standard. Jokic orchestrated the offense with his usual surgical calm, piling up a massive line in points, rebounds and assists that will live right at the top of today’s NBA Player Stats pages. Whether he flirts with a triple-double or just crushes opponents with hyper-efficient scoring, the impact is the same: Denver wins, and the rest of the conference scrambles to keep up.
In the East, Boston continued to operate like a well-oiled machine. Tatum and Jaylen Brown traded buckets from downtown, Jrue Holiday set the tone at the point of attack and the Celtics again put up the kind of two-way performance that screams contender. The NBA Playoff Picture may still be in flux, but Boston is treating the regular season like it’s May already.
Elsewhere, the Milwaukee Bucks leaned hard on Giannis Antetokounmpo’s relentless downhill game. When Giannis gets downhill, defenses retreat, shooters feast and the scoreboard tilts quickly. Milwaukee’s win not only kept them in the upper tier of the East standings, it also kept Giannis’s MVP case very much alive.
Game recap: Jokic and Tatum headline a night of statement wins
Nuggets basketball under Jokic feels like jazz. Last night was another improvisational masterpiece. He controlled pace, inverted the floor and found teammates cutting backdoor like it was a layup line. Add a barrage of threes from Denver’s role players, and the defending champs turned a potentially tricky matchup into a showcase.
Coaches around the league keep saying the same thing about Denver, at least in paraphrase: if you do not blitz Jokic early, he will be comfortable; if you do blitz him, he picks you apart. There is no clean answer. That is exactly what played out again in the latest box score. The Nuggets are not just winning; they are dictating terms.
In Boston, Tatum’s performance clicked every MVP checkbox. Volume scoring? Check. Efficiency? Check. Late-game shot-making? Big check. He shook free in crunchtime with side-step threes and strong drives, and the crowd at TD Garden reacted like it was a playoff game in April. Brown provided the secondary punch, while Kristaps Porzingis stretched the floor and altered shots on defense. The result was another win that keeps Boston perched near the top of the East ladder.
On the perimeter of that spotlight, but no less important for the season narrative, were scrappy wins from teams living in the middle of the playoff race. Those are the results that will decide who is comfortably in the top six and who is sweating the Play-In Tournament once we get to April. For now, they mostly serve as reminders that every random Tuesday loss can come back to haunt you.
Grizzlies, Magic and the Berlin connection
The next time NBA Berlin hosts a showdown, Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies will not just be a marketing line; it will be a clash of identities. Memphis, with Ja Morant as its electric engine, wants to play fast, fearless and loud. Orlando, fueled by the Wagner brothers and Paolo Banchero, is building a bruising, versatile young core that can switch across positions and hit you from multiple spots on the floor.
Franz Wagner, the Berlin native, has quickly morphed from promising rookie into legitimate two-way cornerstone. His blend of size, handle and feel makes him perfect for today’s positionless game. Moritz Wagner brings the edge, the hustle, the energy off the bench that swings second units and ignites crowds. When those two eventually step onto a Berlin floor in Magic uniforms, the arena is going to feel less like a neutral site and more like a home game.
On the other side, Ja Morant’s return to top form is one of the league’s most-watched storylines. Memphis needs his aggressive downhill attacks, his crunchtime fearlessness and the way he warps defenses the second he crosses halfcourt. Every good Grizzlies run usually starts with Morant getting two feet into the paint and forcing help rotations that open up shooters in the corners.
Put that all together, and NBA Berlin is more than a showcase; it is a measuring stick. Can Orlando’s young core punch at Memphis’s level? Can the Wagner brothers carry the emotional weight of playing near home? Does Morant shine brighter under the European spotlight, or does the pressure of the trip and a brutal West schedule show in his legs?
Standings snapshot: who owns the conferences right now?
The standings board this morning tells a story that aligns with the eye test: the elite have separated, but the middle is chaos. Every night changes the math for homecourt advantage, and the Play-In race is beginning to get crowded.
Here is a compact look at how the top tier and key Play-In slots are shaping up in each conference based on the latest official NBA and ESPN updates:
| East | W | L | West | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Boston Celtics | — | — | Denver Nuggets | — | — |
| Milwaukee Bucks | — | — | Oklahoma City Thunder | — | — |
| Philadelphia 76ers | — | — | Minnesota Timberwolves | — | — |
| Orlando Magic | — | — | Los Angeles Clippers | — | — |
| Miami Heat | — | — | Memphis Grizzlies | — | — |
(Dashes indicate that specific win-loss records are omitted rather than estimated; for exact real-time numbers, fans should check the official NBA standings.)
Boston and Denver have the look of teams that only care about fine-tuning details before the postseason. Behind them, though, the traffic is bumper-to-bumper. Milwaukee and Philadelphia are fighting not just for seeding but for confidence heading into what could be another brutal Eastern Conference gauntlet.
Out West, Oklahoma City and Minnesota are the new kids in the contender’s lounge. Their surge makes life harder for established powers trying to avoid a nightmare first-round matchup. One bad week can drop you from homecourt in the first round to staring at a single-elimination Play-In game.
That is where the Grizzlies find themselves: right in the grind of climbing back up the ladder. Every Ja Morant explosion night doubles as a must-win. Each time Memphis drops a winnable game, their margin for error shrinks, and their potential status in matchups like an NBA Berlin game becomes more about desperation than celebration.
Box-score heroes: nightly explosions and quiet disappointments
Every slate delivers box-score candy, and the last 24 hours were loaded. Jokic’s versatile line stood out, of course, but he was not alone. Around the league, multiple stars stacked up the kind of numbers that jump off the NBA Live Scores ticker and slam straight into the MVP conversation.
Tatum’s scoring binge kept pace with any guard or wing in the league. His ability to mix three-level scoring with improved playmaking shows up in both the advanced metrics and the feel of the game. You can sense that Boston’s offense settles when he has the ball late.
Giannis, meanwhile, basically lives in the paint. Even on nights where the jumper is not there, he is a walking 30-and-10 threat. That combination of volume and efficiency is why his name never really leaves the MVP Race, no matter how noisy the narrative gets elsewhere.
On the flip side, a handful of stars and high-usage role players struggled. Contested jumpers bricked, drives got walled off and defensive lapses turned into easy buckets the other way. The regular season is long; not every night is built for highlight reels. But when those cold spells happen in nationally televised games, fans notice, and so do voters who track big-game performances when building their awards ballots.
MVP radar: Jokic, Tatum and the race at the top
The MVP Race feels like a three-to-four man sprint, and last night’s slate did little to change that. Jokic, Tatum and Giannis still sit in the front pack, with a handful of chasing stars trying to elbow their way into the frame.
Jokic’s case basically writes itself. His per-game line lands among the league leaders in points, rebounds and assists, and he does it all on outrageous efficiency. The advanced NBA Player Stats love him because every possession he touches tends to end in a smart decision. The eye test loves him because he makes impossible passes look routine.
Tatum’s case is rooted in winning. Boston’s record and point differential are elite, and he is the offensive fulcrum. When he pours in 30-plus on solid percentages and locks in defensively against fellow top wings, it is hard to ignore the complete package. If the Celtics finish at or near the top of the East, his narrative momentum will be massive.
Giannis stays in the mix by sheer force. His scoring and rebounding numbers are monstrous, and he often guards the other team’s best big. Even on nights with a few more turnovers than you’d like, his impact on both ends is undeniable.
Hovering just behind them are names like Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic, who continue to stack scoring explosions that keep them in every MVP discussion show, even if team results sometimes lag behind the very top tier.
Injuries, news and what it all means
The NBA news cycle over the last day has been as much about health as it has about heroics. A couple of key rotation players around the league are fighting through nagging injuries that may cost them a game or two, and every absence changes the math in tightly packed standings.
Coaches have made it clear in recent postgame comments that they are balancing the urge to chase wins now with the need to have their stars rested and healthy later. One coach summed it up bluntly after sitting a starter with a minor tweak: there is no trophy for winning January.
For teams like the Grizzlies, already walking a tightrope because of earlier absences to Ja Morant and other key contributors, every new injury scare hits harder. Memphis needs reps with its full group to re-establish chemistry. For Orlando, the priority is keeping Franz Wagner and Banchero fresh and in rhythm as they push for sustained playoff credibility and dream about showcasing their growth on stages like NBA Berlin.
What’s next: must-watch games and the road to NBA Berlin
The schedule over the next few days is stacked with matchups that will echo into April. Top-tier showdowns in both conferences will tighten or widen the gap in the standings, and the MVP Race will keep tilting with every 40-point outburst or clutch-time block.
Any time Denver faces a Western contender, it feels like a measuring-stick game. Add Boston vs. another East heavyweight, and you have a doubleheader that can define the night’s narrative. For fans in Germany watching the NBA Playoff Picture develop from afar, these are the games that set the context for when stars eventually cross the Atlantic.
For Orlando and Memphis, every game between now and their next European spotlight is about identity. Will the Magic double down on being a rugged defensive group that grinds out wins? Will the Grizzlies rediscover the swagger that made them must-watch TV when Ja Morant first exploded onto the scene?
One thing is certain: by the time the league’s traveling circus sets up in Europe again, NBA Berlin is going to feel less like an exhibition and more like a checkpoint on the road to June. Between soaring box scores, shifting standings and a tightening MVP Race, the only smart move for fans is simple: keep one eye on the nightly NBA Live Scores and the other on how teams like the Magic and Grizzlies evolve before they bring the show to Berlin.
Stay locked in, keep refreshing those stats pages on the official site and get ready, because the way this season is trending, the next NBA Berlin night is going to feel a lot like a playoff game with a European accent.
Hol dir den Wissensvorsprung der Profis.
Seit 2005 liefert der Börsenbrief trading-notes verlässliche Trading-Empfehlungen – dreimal die Woche, direkt in dein Postfach.
100% kostenlos. 100% Expertenwissen. Trage einfach deine E-Mail Adresse ein und verpasse ab heute keine Top-Chance mehr. Jetzt kostenlos anmelden
Jetzt abonnieren.
