NBA Berlin spotlight: Franz Wagner, Magic stun Grizzlies in preseason showcase and shake up early NBA playoff picture
17.01.2026 - 19:25:19
NBA Berlin was always going to be about the Wagner brothers coming home, but the Orlando Magic turned the preseason showcase against the Memphis Grizzlies into something bigger: a flex of a young core that suddenly looks ready to crash the NBA playoff picture faster than expected.
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Franz Wagner treated the sold-out Berlin crowd like his own backyard court. Attacking off the catch, stepping into threes from downtown and bullying smaller wings in the post, the Magic forward put on the kind of all-around display that has become his signature. Alongside his brother Moritz Wagner, he turned a global exhibition into a reminder: Orlando is not just a fun League Pass team anymore, it is a problem in the East.
The Grizzlies, led by the electric Ja Morant, came to Germany with their usual swagger and pace. But the Magic punched first, controlled the glass, and never really let go of the momentum. Even in a preseason setting, the intensity felt like late March. Defensive closeouts were sharp, rotations crisp, and every Wagner bucket landed with extra weight in front of the Berlin fans who have followed their NBA journey from day one.
In classic Grizzlies fashion, Morant tried to crank up the tempo, pushing in transition, hunting mismatches and getting downhill. Orlando's defense, though, swarmed him, showing extra bodies and forcing the ball out of his hands. For long stretches, it felt like a playoff-style gameplan rather than a casual global game.
Talking after the game, Magic coach Jamahl Mosley praised the environment and his young stars, noting that the trip was less about the scoreboard and more about reinforcing habits: defending without fouling, sharing the ball, and trusting their spacing. Still, the way Franz and Moritz Wagner fed off the Berlin energy said a lot about their growing confidence as leaders of a rising Eastern Conference threat.
Game recap: Magic make Berlin their stage
The first half in Berlin played out like a highlight reel for anyone tracking NBA player stats this month. Franz Wagner showed why he is often cited as one of the most versatile young wings in the league: slashing to the rim, spacing the floor, and handling secondary playmaking duties whenever Paolo Banchero drew extra attention.
Moritz Wagner brought the fire. He drew charges, chirped after made buckets and constantly nudged the Grizzlies bigs off their spots. Every time Memphis tried to string together a run, one of the Wagner brothers answered with a timely bucket or a gritty energy play. The German crowd responded with roars that felt closer to international tournament vibes than standard preseason fare.
On the other side, the Grizzlies used the Berlin stage to get real reps for their retooled rotation. With the franchise still looking to settle on closing lineups, coach Taylor Jenkins leaned into different looks: small-ball with Jaren Jackson Jr. at the five, more pick-and-roll usage for Morant, and a steady diet of drive-and-kick threes to test spacing.
The result was a back-and-forth stretch in the third quarter that briefly turned into pure crunchtime theater. Morant strung together a series of drives and pull-up jumpers, Jackson splashed from deep, and Memphis briefly grabbed control. But once again, the Magic’s length and depth tilted things back. Orlando's guards dug down on drives, wings closed out hard on shooters, and the Wagners punished every defensive mistake.
Even if the box score from Berlin will not count toward the regular season standings, the feel of the night mattered. For Orlando, this was about proving that last year’s surge was no fluke. For Memphis, it was a reminder that the margin between playoff lock and play-in stress is thinner than ever in a loaded West.
Around the league: contenders, upsets and shifting standings
While the Berlin spotlight belonged to the Magic and Grizzlies, the rest of the NBA quietly kept reshaping the early playoff landscape. Across the Atlantic, contenders in both conferences continued to trade heavy blows, the kind that already hint at seeding battles we will be obsessing over in April.
In the East, the Boston Celtics and Milwaukee Bucks remain at the top of the standings, playing like teams on a collision course. Boston has been powered by Jayson Tatum’s two-way dominance and a defense that suffocates pick-and-rolls. Milwaukee, anchored by Giannis Antetokounmpo, keeps grinding out wins behind a relentless rim attack and improved spacing around their superstar.
Out West, the Denver Nuggets and a surging Dallas Mavericks group have turned every night into a referendum on their star power. Nikola Jokic still looks like the smartest man on the floor in virtually every matchup, while Luka Doncic is single-handedly rewriting what peak heliocentric offense can look like. Their nightly stat lines are less box score, more art exhibition.
Look down the standings, and the squeeze is obvious. Teams that expected to coast are suddenly doing math. A surprise loss here, a key injury there, and the path from home-court advantage to the play-in becomes very real.
Current standings snapshot: who owns the early NBA playoff picture?
The regular season is still in its early chapters, but the standings already tell a story. In both conferences, separation is starting at the very top, while the middle of the pack is a knife fight. Here is a compact look at the teams setting the pace, aligned with the latest official updates from NBA.com and ESPN.
| East rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | leading East |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | top tier |
| 3 | New York Knicks | upper playoff mix |
| 4 | Orlando Magic | playoff hunt |
| 5 | Philadelphia 76ers | on the rise |
Those top five in the East are not in cement yet, but the pattern is clear: size, switching and shooting still win. The Celtics and Bucks have the proven superstar cores, but the Knicks and Magic are the kind of rugged, defense-first teams that nobody wants to see in a seven-game series.
| West rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | leading West |
| 2 | Dallas Mavericks | top-2 mix |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | defense-driven |
| 4 | Oklahoma City Thunder | young contender |
| 5 | Memphis Grizzlies | playoff hopeful |
Out West, Denver sits where you would expect a defending champion to be, while Dallas, Minnesota and OKC keep applying real pressure. Memphis, even with the Berlin loss weighing more in narrative than in the win column, is fighting to stay within striking distance of the top tier.
The real chaos, as always, lives in the bubble range. Play-in spots 7 through 10 in each conference are changing hands almost nightly, turning missteps against lottery-bound teams into mini-crises. Every fan glued to NBA live scores knows the feeling: you check your phone at halftime of a random West Coast tip and realize your team just fell two spots despite not playing.
MVP race: Jokic, Doncic and Tatum set the pace
With the season settling into its rhythm, the MVP race is already taking familiar shape. If you pull up NBA player stats today, three names dominate the conversation: Nikola Jokic, Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum.
Jokic’s box scores are absurd even by his own standard. Night after night, he hovers around a triple-double, casually stringing together lines in the neighborhood of 30 points, double-digit rebounds and high-level playmaking. The efficiency, the control, the way he bends defenses without even looking like he is breaking a sweat – it all screams best player alive.
Doncic counters with pure scoring fireworks. He is burying step-backs from deep, bullying smaller guards in the post and diming teammates out of double-teams. It is not unusual to see a line in the 35-point range on strong shooting splits, with hefty assists and a pile of free throws. Dallas lives and dies by his usage, and right now it is working.
Tatum might not put up quite the same raw box-score insanity, but his impact is not far behind. He is getting to 30 efficiently, defending at a high level and anchoring a Celtics attack that feels inevitable in the halfcourt. Boston’s place near the top of the East standings is his loudest MVP argument.
Behind them, names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and even Anthony Edwards keep hanging around the race. But on the current trajectory, the MVP race looks like another Jokic vs. Doncic vs. Tatum showdown, with every head-to-head matchup doubled as a narrative referendum.
Stock watch: risers, fallers and quiet disappointments
The Magic’s Berlin showcase bumps their stock once again. Between Banchero’s shot creation and Franz Wagner’s polished all-around game, Orlando has a one-two punch that can bother any defense. The key, as always, will be halfcourt offense in crunchtime and consistent three-point shooting. If the Magic keep getting league-average shooting from their role players, they can sit comfortably in the playoff bracket rather than sweating the play-in.
Memphis, meanwhile, remains one of the most volatile stocks in the West. On their best nights, the Grizzlies look like a home-court team: fast, physical, fearless. On their worst, the lack of shooting and occasional defensive lapses leave them exposed. The Berlin loss does not count in the standings, but the habits matter, and so does Morant’s ability to stay efficient in heavy-usage scenarios.
Elsewhere, a few teams preseason models loved have not quite delivered. Inconsistent defense, nagging injuries and a lack of late-game execution have already cost them precious ground in packed conferences. When you are glancing at NBA live scores and you see another blown double-digit lead, you know the film session is going to be brutal the next day.
Injuries, rotations and the human side of the grind
The other major story shaping the NBA playoff picture is the injury log. Every week, we get updates that quietly swing win projections. A star missing two weeks here, a key role player sidelined for a month there – it all adds up.
Coaches talk all the time about next man up, but the reality is more nuanced. Rotations get scrambled, players slide into unfamiliar roles and chemistry gets tested. Some teams uncover hidden gems off the bench; others discover that their margin for error is razor-thin.
That is why nights like NBA Berlin carry weight. For role players, those extra reps in a high-energy environment matter. Getting comfortable hitting corner threes in front of a roaring crowd, executing a defensive coverage on a big stage or just surviving extended minutes against another team’s A-listers – it all builds confidence that pays off when the standings tighten later in the season.
What Berlin told us about Orlando, Memphis and the global NBA
On a pure basketball level, the Magic’s performance in Berlin was a proof of concept. Their length bothered Memphis all over the floor. Their depth allowed them to survive stretches where the stars sat. And the Wagners clearly felt at home – not just emotionally, but stylistically, playing free, aggressive and unafraid of the moment.
For the Grizzlies, the night was a reminder that talent alone does not guarantee clean execution. They will still be a factor in any serious Western Conference discussion, especially once the regular season grind fully locks in their rotation. But defensive focus and shot selection remain swing factors. In a conference where the Nuggets, Mavericks, Timberwolves and Thunder are all trending up, every possession matters.
Zoom out, and NBA Berlin underlined something bigger: this league is as global and as deep as it has ever been. European fans cheering the Wagner brothers, chanting for Ja Morant, tracking NBA player stats on their phones in real time – it is all part of the same orbit now. The Berlin crowd did not react like casual observers. They groaned at missed rotations, rose for big threes and treated every whistle as if a playoff spot was on the line.
Must-watch ahead: statement games and shifting tiers
Look at the upcoming schedule, and you can already circle a handful of matchups that will say a lot about where this season is headed. The Celtics and Bucks will keep checking each other from a distance, trading wins and jockeying for the one-seed that could decide an eventual East finals. Boston’s defense versus Milwaukee’s size and Giannis-led pressure will be a chess match every single time they share the floor.
In the West, any meeting between the Nuggets and Mavericks is appointment viewing. Jokic’s methodical brilliance against Doncic’s improvisational chaos is one of the best stylistic clashes the league can offer. Those nights also turn into live MVP debates in real time, with every possession added to the race’s narrative weight.
For Magic fans riding the NBA Berlin high, the next stretch of games will be telling. Can Orlando turn the energy from this global stage into consistent execution back home? Can Franz Wagner keep this level of aggression against playoff-caliber wings? If the answer is yes, the Magic will not just be fighting to squeeze into the bracket – they will be the dark horse nobody wants to draw.
Memphis will have its own proving ground: physical divisional battles, road tests against elite defenses and must-win games against fellow bubble teams. Every result will ripple through the standings. Check the NBA live scores on any given night and there is a decent chance you will see the Grizzlies perched right on the edge between safety and stress.
Bottom line: the NBA Berlin echo and the road ahead
When the lights went down in Berlin, the scoreboard reset to zero, but the impressions lingered. The Wagners showed out in front of their home crowd. The Magic looked like a team itching to skip the rebuilding line. The Grizzlies flashed both their explosive ceiling and their vulnerable floor.
Across the rest of the league, the standings continued to tighten, the MVP race sharpened around Jokic, Doncic and Tatum, and every night added new data points to a season that already feels loaded with storylines. Check any of the major outlets – NBA.com, ESPN, Yahoo, CBS Sports – and the feed is full of shifting seeds, fresh highlights and updated box scores.
For fans, this is the sweet spot of the calendar. Every game may technically count the same in the standings, but some nights carry a different weight. A big win on the road, a breakout performance from a young star, a clutch buzzer beater that swings a tiebreaker – it all stacks up.
If NBA Berlin reminded us of anything, it is that the league’s pulse is global now, and every court can feel like the center of the basketball universe for a night. Keep an eye on the NBA playoff picture, track the MVP race, watch those NBA game highlights and box scores roll in, and do not lose sight of the teams quietly building something dangerous under the radar.
Stay locked in, refresh those NBA live scores, and do not blink. The season is already moving at full speed, and nights like NBA Berlin are exactly why you do not want to miss a single twist.
