By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
Headlining the 2025-26 NBA regular season on Saturday, the Magic of Orlando earned a 119-92 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves at the target center. Germany’s Tristan da Silva and Moritz Wagner contributed 11 and seven points respectively, while Georgia’s Goga Bitadze added four. Frenchman Noah Penda remained scoreless and German Franz Wagner remained sidelined managing a left ankle injury. “Sometimes rightly so, but a lot of times I feel like we complain too much. This is not the team we want to be, mentally. We need to be more resilient, whether it’s bad decisions, shots not going in or things not going our way.” said French center Rudy Gobert in a postgame interview after finishing with 12 points for the Wolves. His fellow starter, Italian Donte DiVincenzo, remained scoreless and Frenchman Joan Beringer was sent to the G League.
THE Brooklyn filletscoached by Spaniard Jordi Fernandez, overcame a 23-point deficit at Little Caesars Arena to defeat the Detroit Pistons 107-105. Frenchman Nolan Traoré started and scored two points, while Israeli reserves Danny Wolf and Ben Saraf finished with eight and zero points, respectively. Russian Egor Demin was out due to treatment for a left plantar fascia injury, and Swede Bobi Klintman did not play for the Eastern Conference leaders.
In FedExForum, the Los Angeles Clippers survived the Memphis Grizzlies 123-120. Frenchman Nicolas Batum remained scoreless in a few minutes, Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic remained on the bench and Swiss Yanic Konan Niederhauser was eliminated due to a torn right Lisfranc ligament. For the Grizzliescoached by Finnish Tuomas Iisalo, Spaniard Santi Aldama sat out with a right knee injury and Frenchman Rayan Rupert was assigned to the Memphis Hustle of the G League.
Finally, the Atlanta Falcons defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 125-116 at State Farm Arena. Adem Bona of Türkiye scored four points as a starter for the Sixerswhich saw Tyrese Maxey go out with a hand injury. Coming off the bench for the hosts, Frenchman Zacharie Risacher scored eight points.
Saturday results
Minnesota Timberwolves – Magic of Orlando 92-119
Detroit Pistons – Brooklyn fillets 105-107
Atlanta Falcons – Philadelphia 76ers 125-116
Memphis Grizzlies – Los Angeles Clippers 120-123
Milwaukee Bucks – Utah Jazz 113-99
Oklahoma City Thunder – Warriors of the Golden State 104-97
Ranking
Eastern Conference
1. Detroit Pistons 45-17
2. Boston Celtics 42-21
3. New York Knicks 41-23
4. Cleveland Cavaliers 39-24
5. Toronto Raptors 35-27
6. The magic of Orlando 34-28
7. Miami Heat 35-29
8. Philadelphia 76ers 34-29
9. Atlanta Falcons 33-31
10. Charlotte Frelons 32-32
11. Milwaukee Bucks 27-35
12. Chicago Bulls 26-37
13. Wizards of Washington 16-46
14. Brooklyn Tenderloins 16-47
15. Indiana Pacers 15-48
Western Conference
1. Oklahoma City Thunder 50-15
2. San Antonio Spurs 46-17
3. Houston Rockets 39-23
4. Minnesota Wolves 40-24
5. Denver Nuggets 39-25
6. Los Angeles Lakers 38-25
7. Phoenix Suns 36-27
8. Warriors of the Golden State 32-31
9. Los Angeles Clippers 31-32
10. Portland Trail Blazers 30-34
11. Memphis Grizzlies 23-39
12. Dallas Mavericks 21-42
13. New Orleans Pelicans 20-45
14. Utah Jazz 19-45
15. Kings of Sacramento 14-50
-The top 6 teams in each conference advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams seventh through tenth in each conference advance to the Play-Ins
