By Johnny Askounis/ [email protected]
German starter Tristan da Silva fueled the Magic of Orlando to a 128-122 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers at the Kia Center, scoring nine of his 23 points in the fourth quarter. Frenchman Noah Penda and German Moritz Wagner contributed four and one points respectively, while Georgian Goga Bitadze did not play and German Franz Wagner (managing left high ankle sprains) remained unavailable. For the Wine merchantsGerman Dennis Schroder remained scoreless, Dutchman Tristan Enaruna was left out of the rotation and Frenchman Olivier Sarr remained on assignment in the G League with the Cleveland Charge.
In Wednesday’s action of the 2025-26 NBA regular season at the Delta Center, UK starter OG Anunoby scored 22 points as the best player. New York Knicks defeated the Utah Jazz134-117. Frenchman Mohamed Diawara and Polish Jeremy Sochan added ten and four points respectively, but Frenchman Pacome Dadiet did not score and German Ariel Hukporti did not play. For the hosts, Ukraine’s Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk saw no action, while Finland’s Lauri Markkanen (right hip impingement) and Bosnia’s Jusuf Nurkic (recovering from nose injury) were sidelined.
At Intuit Dome, Kawhi Leonard dropped 45 points to lead the Los Angeles Clippers in a 153-128 rout of Minnesota Timberwolves. Frenchman Nicolas Batum scored six points, but Serbian Bogdan Bogdanovic did not play and Swiss Yanic Konan Niederhauser (torn right Lisfranc ligament) was unavailable. European Timber wolves starters ranged from Frenchman Rudy Gobert with nine points to Italian Donte DiVincenzo with six points, while Frenchman Joan Beringer was on assignment with the Iowa Wolves.
THE Charlotte Frelons wins 117-109 over the Kings of Sacramento at Golden 1 Center, supported by French holder Moussa Diabaté, who collected ten rebounds to score two points. Britain’s Tosan Evbuomwan remained on the bench and Frenchman Tidjane Salaun (left calf strain) was sidelined. Two French holders for the KingsKillian Hayes and Maxime Raynaud reaching 11 and four points respectively, while Lithuanian Domantas Sabonis (left knee meniscus repair) remained absent.
Finally, at the Smoothie King Center, Croatian Karlo Matkovic earned four points as the best New Orleans Pelicans beat the Toronto Raptors122-111. For the team coached by Serbian Darko Rajakovic, Austrian starter Jakob Poeltl and Georgian reserve Sandro Mamukelashvili each collected eight points.
Wednesday results
Magic of Orlando -Cleveland Riders 128-122
New Orleans Pelicans – Toronto Raptors 122-111
Utah Jazz – New York Knicks 117-134
Denver Nuggets – Houston Rockets 129-93
Kings of Sacramento – Charlotte Frelons 109-117
Los Angeles Clippers – Minnesota Timberwolves 153-128
Ranking
Eastern Conference
1. Detroit Pistons 46-18
2. Boston Celtics 43-22
3. New York Knicks 42-25
4. Cleveland Cavaliers 40-26
5. The magic of Orlando 36-28
6. Miami Heat 37-29
7. Toronto Raptors 36-29
8. Philadelphia 76ers 35-30
9. Atlanta Falcons 34-31
10. Charlotte Hornets 34-33
11. Milwaukee Bucks 27-37
12. Chicago Bulls 27-38
13. Brooklyn fillets 17-48
14. Wizards of Washington 16-48
15.o-Indiana Pacers 15-50
Western Conference
1. Oklahoma City Thunder 51-15
2. San Antonio Spurs 48-17
3. Houston Rockets 40-25
4. Los Angeles Lakers 40-25
5. Denver Nuggets 40-26
6. Minnesota Wolves 40-26
7. Phoenix Suns 38-27
8. Los Angeles Clippers 33-32
9. Warriors of the Golden State 32-33
10. Portland Trail Blazers 31-35
11. Memphis Grizzlies 23-41
12. New Orleans Pelicans 22-45
13. Dallas Mavericks 21-44
14. Utah Jazz 20-46
15. o-Sacramento Kings 16-51
-The top 6 teams in each conference advance directly to the Playoffs
-Teams seventh through tenth in each conference advance to the Play-Ins
o-eliminated
