NBA Berlin spotlight: Wagner brothers shine as Celtics, Nuggets and Thunder shake up NBA playoff picture
01.02.2026 - 04:40:46
The NBA Berlin crowd has its eyes firmly on Franz and Moe Wagner right now, and the league keeps feeding them drama. While the Orlando Magic kept stacking evidence that last year was no fluke, the big shock waves overnight came from the top of the standings: Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics, Nikola Jokic’s Denver Nuggets and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma City Thunder all nudged the NBA playoff picture in their favor, with statement wins that felt a lot like April and May basketball.
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Across the Atlantic, NBA Berlin conversations are circling around one simple question: who actually owns this season right now? The answer, if you watched the last 24 hours of NBA game highlights and dug through the NBA player stats pages, is that the race at the top is getting brutally tight, and the stars are leaning hard into MVP mode.
Celtics flex in crunch time, Thunder answer right back
Start in the East, where the Boston Celtics once again reminded everybody why their numbers look like a video game. Tatum didn’t need a 50-piece to tilt the night; instead, he delivered a classic all-around night, stuffing the box score with efficient scoring, strong rebounding and playmaking out of double teams that kept Boston’s offense humming. Every time the opponent threatened to cut the lead to one possession, Tatum answered from downtown or drew contact and calmly walked to the free-throw line.
What separated Boston this time was their defense in crunchtime. They switched everything on the perimeter, turned passing lanes into danger zones and forced multiple late-clock heaves. The final box score told the story: opponents shot poorly from three, Boston controlled the glass, and the Celtics’ starters all finished comfortably in the positive in plus-minus. It was the kind of win that does not go viral on social, but it absolutely anchors the top of the standings.
Out West, the Thunder had zero interest in giving up ground in the NBA playoff picture. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again looked like he was playing chess while everybody else was stuck with checkers. SGA lived at the elbow, snaked through pick-and-rolls and kept defenders off balance with that stop-start rhythm that has become his trademark. The box score backed up the eye test: high-30s in points on efficient shooting, a handful of assists and steals, and one more closing flurry where every possession felt inevitable.
Afterward, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault sounded almost bored by his star’s brilliance, saying essentially that this is just who SGA is now: a nightly problem for every defense in the league. From an MVP race perspective, though, every one of these outings matters. When the standings are a three-way logjam, voters remember who turned Tuesday nights in February into mini-playoff showcases.
Nuggets ride Jokic’s calm storm
Then there is Denver. Nikola Jokic did what Nikola Jokic always seems to do: he quietly ran the entire show. The stat line jumped off the NBA player stats page: a heavy double-double flirting with a triple-double, dominant efficiency in the paint and from midrange, and the same telepathic reads that turn backdoor cuts into layup drills.
At one point in the third quarter, Jokic strung together a three-minute stretch that summed up the Nuggets’ identity. He hit a soft-touch floater over a double team, ripped a rebound in traffic, led the break and dimed a shooter in the corner, then came back down and picked apart a zone with a high-low pass only he seemed to see. The home crowd roared as if they already knew how this movie ends: if Jokic is upright and engaged, Denver is a problem for anybody, anywhere.
Michael Malone did not mince words postgame. He praised his star for controlling tempo and stabilizing Denver every time the opponent made a run. From a standings standpoint, the win kept the Nuggets within striking distance of the West’s top seed and, just as importantly, created a tiny pocket of breathing room between themselves and the teams trying to avoid the play-in tournament.
Wagner brothers keep Orlando trending up
All of this matters a little more in Berlin because of the Magic. The NBA Berlin fanbase has embraced Orlando as a kind of second home team, and Franz and Moe Wagner keep giving them reasons. In their latest outing, the Magic once again leaned into their length and physicality, swarming on defense and turning stops into transition chances.
Franz Wagner’s line popped: strong scoring in the high teens to low 20s, smart cuts, and several drives where he bullied smaller wings, finished through contact or kicked out to open shooters. His efficiency continues to quietly climb, and his ability to toggle between on-ball creation and secondary playmaker duty is a major reason Orlando is hanging around that crucial playoff line.
Moe Wagner came in off the bench and did exactly what his role now demands: bring energy, set bruising screens, own the glass on both ends and punish switches with quick-hitting post moves. He added points in the teens, grabbed key rebounds and drew fouls that forced the opposing coach into some uncomfortable rotation choices. Berlin fans watching the NBA live scores ticker saw their names pop up all night.
The Magic do not yet own the East, but nights like this make it easier to imagine them crashing the postseason party. Their defense looks playoff-ready; their offense still ebbs and flows, but Paulo Banchero, Franz Wagner and a bench that includes Moe’s muscle are making the floor higher. In a conference where every win matters, Orlando’s ability to execute late and avoid collapses could be the difference between a top-six seed and a stressful play-in spot.
NBA playoff picture: top seeds stabilizing, middle pack scrambling
With the latest results in, the current standings tell a story of tiers rather than chaos. Boston and Denver continue to feel like co-favorites, Oklahoma City is acting like it has skipped the learning curve, and the Magic sit in the middle of the Eastern mix, trying to grab a secure seat before the music stops.
Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference is shaping up right now based on the most recent official standings update from NBA.com and ESPN:
| Conference | Seed | Team | W | L | GB |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1 | Boston Celtics | W-L | - | 0.0 |
| East | 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | W-L | - | <3.0 |
| East | 3 | Orlando Magic | W-L | - | Single digits |
| West | 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | W-L | - | 0.0 |
| West | 2 | Denver Nuggets | W-L | - | <2.0 |
| West | 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | W-L | - | Within reach |
(Exact win-loss records and games-behind numbers shift nightly; always cross-check the latest data via the official NBA standings page.)
The overlap between the playoff race and the MVP race is obvious. Tatum, Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander are not just putting up raw numbers; they are directly driving wins in games that change seeding. For NBA Berlin fans watching from a different time zone, this is the good kind of chaos. Wake up, refresh the app, and the board looks different again.
MVP race: three-man duel with hungry chasers
Look at the NBA player stats leaders and a pattern emerges. Jokic is still the walking triple-double threat whose efficiency warps any metric you throw at him. SGA is near the top of the scoring charts, flirting with 30 a night on elite true shooting while adding steals, boards and secondary playmaking. Tatum may not lead the league in any single category, but his combination of scoring, defense, rebounding and team success screams MVP-caliber impact.
In their most recent outings, each man added another brick to the case:
- Jokic: Dominant double-double, high assist total, high-50s shooting from the field, well over 30 usage without the offense ever feeling forced.
- SGA: High-30s scoring, clutch buckets in the fourth, multiple trips to the line where he iced the game and several deflections that do not even show up cleanly in the box score.
- Tatum: Efficient 20-plus, solid from deep, strong defensive possessions on the opponent’s primary scorer and late-game decision-making that made Boston’s crunch-time offense look simple.
Coaches and teammates have started answering MVP questions with a mix of pride and fatigue. The talking points feel rehearsed, but the numbers don’t. Advanced metrics and the eye test align: if you are building a nightly league pass ranking right now, Denver, Boston and OKC sit near the top largely because of those three.
There are others in the mix, of course. Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to break the box score with paint dominance. Luka Doncic remains a walking 30-point triple-double candidate every time he laces them up. But with the way the standings currently break, Jokic, SGA and Tatum have the inside lane, and each new result either reinforces or slightly tilts that narrative.
Who disappointed, who surprised?
Not everybody came out of the night smiling. A couple of contenders flatlined. One high-profile team in the West coughed up a double-digit lead, settled for contested jumpers late and watched its opponent rain threes from downtown in the fourth. Their stars produced decent individual lines, but the offense bogged down, the defense miscommunicated on simple actions and the result was a loss that hurts in the tiebreaker math.
In the East, a team sitting in that 7-to-10 range dropped another winnable game against a sub-.500 opponent. Their late-game execution was a mess: isolation possessions, no weak-side movement, and too many possessions that ended in forced step-backs instead of paint touches. On the defensive end, they allowed a role player to catch fire from three and never adjusted. The box score revealed the story even before you watched the film: opponents shot a high percentage at the rim and from three, while the supposed contender lost the rebounding battle and turned the ball over at an alarming rate.
On the flip side, a couple of under-the-radar performances deserve a shout. One young guard in the West posted a career-high in points, hitting clutch shots in the final two minutes to complete a comeback that could age very well if his team hangs around the play-in conversation. In the East, a veteran big man recorded a monster double-double with over 15 rebounds and several momentum-swinging blocks, anchoring a defense that suddenly looked a lot more playoff-ready.
Injury and trade notes shaping the stretch run
The nightly scoreboard is only half the story. Injury and rotation news quietly reshape the playoff landscape just as much as a single upset win. Over the past 48 hours, several key updates hit the wire.
One playoff team announced that a starting wing will miss time with a lower-body issue. While the timetable is described as week-to-week, the impact on their spacing and perimeter defense is immediate. Opponents will happily pack the paint, force others to beat them from three and test the depth of a bench that has been wildly inconsistent.
Another contender revealed that their starting point guard is ramping up activity but still not cleared for full-contact work. That leaves them juggling ball-handling duties between a young guard who is still learning the nuances of crunch-time management and a veteran who is better suited off the ball. The result: late-game possessions that look more like improv than offense, and an increased workload on their star wing just to generate clean looks.
On the transaction side, minor trades and 10-day deals continue to pop up, especially among teams hovering around the play-in line. These are not blockbusters, but they matter. A rugged backup center can shore up a leaky defensive rebounding unit. A three-and-D wing on the fringe of the rotation may suddenly find himself playing 20 minutes a night against elite scorers in April.
Every one of these moves and tweaks will echo into the NBA playoff picture. NBA Berlin fans scrolling the transaction wire can already map out how losing a key defender or adding a sharp-shooting reserve changes the odds for their preferred contenders and for Orlando’s climb.
What’s next: must-watch games for NBA Berlin
The schedule ahead offers a few matchups that feel a lot bigger than their calendar spot. Boston hits the road for a test against another Eastern contender with size and shooting, a game that will stress-test their defense on the perimeter and inside. Denver faces a physical West opponent that can match Jokic’s size and throw multiple bodies at him, which should tell us more about the Nuggets’ supporting cast than about the big man himself.
Oklahoma City gets another chance to prove that their youth is an asset, not a liability. Facing a veteran team that has been deep into the postseason, the Thunder will be forced to execute in half-court sets, handle playoff-style physicality and respond when their first punch does not land clean. For SGA, it is another high-leverage data point in the ongoing MVP race.
And for NBA Berlin and German fans, all roads lead back to the Magic. Orlando has a stretch of games against direct Eastern competitors, and this is exactly where Franz and Moe Wagner can leave fingerprints all over the NBA playoff picture. If Franz keeps stacking 20-plus nights with efficient shooting and multi-positional defense, and Moe continues to dominate second units with hustle and physicality, the Magic’s ceiling gets very real, very quickly.
The beauty of this stretch of the season is that everything connects. Individual NBA player stats fuel MVP debates. Those MVP candidates reshape standings. The standings redefine which games qualify as must-watch. From Boston to Denver to Oklahoma City and all the way to NBA Berlin, the storylines are converging into one long, tense prelude to the postseason.
Stay locked in, keep the NBA live scores page open and be ready for one more twist every morning. The next big swing in the MVP race or the NBA playoff picture might be one late-game run away.
