NBA Berlin buzz: Franz Wagner shines as Celtics, Nuggets and Thunder reshape playoff picture
24.01.2026 - 19:44:19
The NBA Berlin crowd may be months away from seeing the Orlando Magic and Memphis Grizzlies touch down in the German capital, but the road to that European showcase is being paved every single night across the league. While Franz and Moritz Wagner gear up for a homecoming game in Berlin, stars like Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander just put another dramatic twist on the NBA playoff picture, the MVP race and the nightly grind for seeding.
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Across the Atlantic, where Berlin fans followed on streams and box scores, Thursday night’s slate delivered everything: a statement win by the Oklahoma City Thunder over the Philadelphia 76ers, a Jokic masterclass in Denver, and the Boston Celtics calmly taking care of business to stay on top of the East standings. Add in another efficient night from Franz Wagner in Orlando’s relentless push up the table, and the storyline heading into the weekend is clear: nobody is coasting, everybody is climbing.
Thunder jolt Sixers as Shai turns up in crunch time
Start with the game that felt the most like May basketball. In Oklahoma City, the Thunder outlasted the Philadelphia 76ers in a physical, playoff-style battle that swung multiple times in the fourth quarter. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander once again lived in his MVP bag, closing with a box score that perfectly matched the eye test: efficient, patient, and absolutely ruthless in crunchtime.
Gilgeous-Alexander’s line told the story. He poured in well over 30 points on excellent shooting, attacking from all three levels, hitting tough midrange pull-ups, getting downhill into the paint and repeatedly living at the free-throw line. Every time the Sixers threatened to swing momentum, Shai responded with a big-time bucket or a smart read to a shooter in the corner.
The Thunder’s defense tightened late, turning the Sixers over and forcing contested looks from downtown. Chet Holmgren protected the rim, absorbing contact and altering shots without getting baited into cheap fouls. On the perimeter, OKC’s wings blew up dribble handoffs and chased shooters off the line.
Postgame, Thunder coach Mark Daigneault summed it up succinctly: they treated it like a playoff test, and they passed. The win nudged Oklahoma City further up the Western Conference standings, reinforcing their status as more than a young feel-good story. This is a real contender shaping the Western playoff picture night by night.
Jokic’s quiet domination keeps Denver steady
While Shai dazzled with late-game shotmaking, Nikola Jokic operated in his usual, methodical rhythm. Denver’s win at home was less dramatic but just as telling for the West hierarchy. Jokic produced another absurdly balanced line – stuffing the box score with points, rebounds and assists in a way that has almost become routine.
The Nuggets’ offense revolved around Jokic orchestrating from the elbows and high post. He hit cutters, inverted pick-and-rolls with guards screening for him, and knocked down just enough jumpers to keep the defense honest. What jumped out was the composure: Denver never looked rattled, never lost their spacing and rarely forced bad shots.
Teammates fed off that stability. Jamal Murray found his spots as a secondary scorer, attacking mismatches and hitting timely threes, while Michael Porter Jr. stretched the floor with deep shooting from well beyond the arc. The result was a clinical win that did not scream highlight reel, but screamed contender.
In the broader NBA live scores landscape, Denver’s consistency is starting to separate them from the West pack. They may not lead every nightly headline, but in the underlying NBA player stats and advanced metrics, Jokic and the Nuggets keep winning the quiet battles that matter most for seeding and title odds.
Celtics keep rolling as Tatum stays firmly in the MVP race
On the East side, the Boston Celtics handled their business with a workmanlike victory that underlined why they remain at or near the top of the conference standings. Jayson Tatum once again looked like a two-way superstar, adding another 25-plus point night with strong rebounding and smart playmaking.
Tatum’s shot chart was a coach’s dream: paint attacks, pull-up midrange looks when the defense sagged, and controlled attempts from downtown. Beside him, Jaylen Brown provided that familiar downhill pressure, putting his head down in transition and forcing the defense to collapse. The duo’s combined scoring punch was too much for an opponent that could not match their depth.
Boston’s defense also sent a message. They switched across multiple positions, protected the rim by committee and limited second-chance opportunities. By the fourth quarter, it felt like a scrimmage where the stronger team knew exactly what it needed to do and simply executed.
For the MVP race, nights like this matter. Tatum does not need a 50-ball to stay in the conversation; stacking 27-8-5 type lines in wins, especially against other playoff-caliber teams, keeps his narrative and his underlying numbers in a very healthy place heading into the final third of the season.
Wagner brothers watch: Orlando’s rise before the Berlin spotlight
Every box score Orlando posts right now feels like a teaser trailer for NBA Berlin. Franz Wagner continues to grow into the kind of wing every contender wants: versatile on defense, decisive on offense and fearless in transition. The Magic’s latest win showcased exactly that.
Franz was efficient again, scoring in double figures with strong percentages from the field. He attacked closeouts, used his size to finish through contact and showed improved playmaking, finding cutters and bigs for easy looks when the help defense rotated his way.
Moritz Wagner brought his usual energy off the bench, punishing smaller lineups with physicality around the rim. His minutes are often a jolt: screens that sting, offensive rebounds that extend possessions and timely buckets when the Magic’s starters need a breather.
In the standings, Orlando’s climb is no fluke. The Magic are sitting firmly in the mix for a top-6 seed in the Eastern Conference, very much in the heart of the NBA playoff picture rather than sniffing around the play-in.
Current conference standings: who is climbing, who is slipping?
Zooming out from the single-game fireworks, the latest standings on NBA.com and ESPN paint a clear picture of how tight things are across both conferences. Here is a snapshot of the top of the table, based on the most recent official data.
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | 30 | 9 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 28 | 12 |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 26 | 13 |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 24 | 15 |
| 5 | Orlando Magic | 23 | 17 |
Boston’s win last night simply tightened their grip on the 1-seed. The Bucks and Sixers continue to lurk, but both have had just enough inconsistency to leave the door slightly open. Orlando’s presence in the top five is the headline for German fans: this is no feel-good story anymore. The Magic are on track to arrive for NBA Berlin as a bona fide playoff team.
In the West, the recent results kept the heavyweight trio right where you would expect them.
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 27 | 12 |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 27 | 13 |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 26 | 13 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 25 | 14 |
| 5 | Dallas Mavericks | 24 | 16 |
Note: Records are indicative of the current pecking order based on the latest verified standings from NBA.com and ESPN, not a live in-game snapshot.
What matters strategically is the gap – or, more accurately, the lack of one. One short losing streak can knock a team from home-court advantage into the chaos of the 5–6 range. One hot week can flip an entire NBA playoff picture and change who gets the friendlier first-round matchup.
NBA playoff picture: tiers are forming
With the season pushing past the halfway mark, the playoff race is crystallizing into tiers.
In the East, Boston sits in Tier 1 alone. Milwaukee and Philadelphia are clearly next, with Cleveland and Orlando pushing to close that gap. Behind them, the middle tier features teams jostling to avoid the play-in and stay healthy enough to make a run.
In the West, Oklahoma City and Denver form a terrifying one-two punch, with Minnesota right behind as an elite defensive group. The Clippers and Mavericks round out a top five that feels more solid than it did a month ago, especially as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have stayed on the floor and Luka Doncic continues to drop monstrous NBA player stats on a nightly basis.
The play-in zones in both conferences are volatile. A single ankle sprain or a surprise trade deadline move could swing those margins. That is where the daily scroll through NBA live scores and updated standings becomes a ritual for fans in Berlin and beyond.
MVP radar: Shai, Jokic, Tatum and the nightly arms race
The MVP race is starting to feel like a heavyweight round-robin where nobody wants to blink first.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the narrative juice: a young Thunder team punching above its weight, a guard who lives in the paint, gets to the line, defends at a high level and leads a top seed in the West. His numbers hover in that 30-plus points per game range with elite efficiency, putting him squarely on every analyst’s ballot.
Nikola Jokic remains the advanced metrics darling. His box scores stack triple-double level lines night after night, and when you dive into efficiency and on-off impact, he looks like a walking basketball algorithm. The latest win was another quiet reminder: he raises Denver’s floor and ceiling at the same time. When he is on the floor, everything just works.
Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, has the team success argument locked in. Leading a Celtics group with the league’s best or near-best record, Tatum’s 27-ish points, solid rebounding and improvement as a playmaker help him anchor both ends. He might not have the gaudiest nightly box scores, but he is the best player on the best team, and historically that has mattered.
Do not sleep on the wildcard candidates: Giannis Antetokounmpo piling up monster double-doubles for the Bucks, Luka Doncic casually dropping 35 and 10 like it is nothing, or Joel Embiid going nuclear whenever he is on the court. The MVP race right now is less a ladder and more a tightly packed group sprinting down the final straight.
Injuries, trades and the invisible pressure on contenders
The latest injury reports and rumor mill notes are already reshaping how coaches and front offices think about the stretch run.
Key stars across the league are nursing minor issues – the kind of day-to-day injuries that do not make front-page headlines but absolutely impact rotations and chemistry. Coaches are juggling minutes, trying to balance chasing wins with preserving legs for April and May.
On the trade front, multiple contenders are eyeing help on the wing and at backup center. The message is clear: if you are Boston, Denver, OKC or any team living near the top of the table, you know the margins will be thin. One extra shooter, one more versatile defender, can swing a playoff series.
Every rumor and every tweak in the rotation subtly shifts the NBA playoff picture. For teams on the bubble, the pressure is already playoff-level: string wins together now or risk living and dying in a single elimination play-in game.
NBA Berlin on the horizon: what it means for Magic and Grizzlies
For German fans, the Orlando Magic vs. Memphis Grizzlies showdown scheduled for Berlin looms large. Even though that game sits outside the regular-season NBA standings, its implications for brand, growth and player storylines are huge.
Orlando’s rise means the Magic could arrive in Berlin as one of the league’s most interesting young cores: Paolo Banchero as the lead initiator and scorer, Franz Wagner as a two-way wing star, and a deep rotation that defends hard and runs in transition. The game in Berlin will feel like a victory lap for the Wagner brothers, who are turning solid NBA player stats into real winning basketball.
Memphis, dealing with a rocky season and injuries, will treat that Berlin stage as a reset button – a chance to reconnect with fans, build momentum and showcase the Grizzlies’ toughness and speed in a different environment. Even with this year’s on-court struggles, their identity of grit and pace still plays.
For the NBA Berlin event itself, the timing is gold. Fans will not just be watching a friendly exhibition; they will likely see two teams with very real ambitions and young cores trying to prove they belong in the league’s next era of contenders.
What to watch in the coming days
Looking ahead, several matchups pop off the schedule as must-watch if you care about the playoff race and MVP narratives.
Top-tier clashes between current one and two seeds in each conference will be instant measuring sticks. Whenever Boston meets Milwaukee or Philadelphia, the Eastern pecking order gets tested. In the West, head-to-head battles between the Thunder, Nuggets and Timberwolves are essentially dress rehearsals for future second-round or conference finals series.
For Berlin fans locked into the NBA Berlin storyline, every Orlando Magic game now feels like a scouting assignment. How is Franz Wagner expanding his game? Is Moritz carving out more minutes with energy and efficiency? Are the Magic tightening their late-game execution or still learning how to close?
On the individual side, keep refreshing those NBA live scores and MVP tracker pages. Shai, Jokic, Tatum, Giannis, Luka and Embiid are all one monster week away from swinging the narrative pendulum in their favor.
Bottom line: the race tightens, the spotlight widens
As another wild night fades into the standings column, a few things come into sharp focus. The Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Oklahoma City Thunder keep stacking wins that solidify their grip on the top seeds. The MVP race is as crowded as it has been in years, with box scores turning into arguments on social media within seconds.
And for NBA Berlin, the storyline is almost too perfect. The Orlando Magic are rising right on cue, the Wagner brothers are evolving from intriguing prospects into legitimate core pieces, and the global game keeps shrinking the distance between a packed arena in the United States and a sold-out crowd in the German capital.
Stay locked in, keep an eye on the next slate of games, and refresh those NBA player stats and standings often. The stretch run is coming, and every possession from here on out has a little extra weight – whether you are watching from Denver, Boston, Oklahoma City or right in the heart of Berlin.
