標籤: seed

The Boston Celtics have been playing well all season, and they have gotten even better over the past few weeks with the return of Jayson Tatum to the lineup. They are currently the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference, and they have an opportunity to climb to No. 1 with the latest news of Cade Cunningham suffering from a bad lung.

The Detroit Pistons have been on top of the Eastern Conference all season, and Cunningham has been the engine of their success. It is uncertain how long he will be sidelined, but it could be three weeks or even six weeks. Any deadline would be after the regular season, meaning the Pistons may struggle without their star player.

The Celtics, on the other hand, have everything they need, and they are ready to make a run.

It won’t be all easy for the Celtics, as they have the league’s seventh-toughest schedule remaining. They still have matchups with the Oklahoma City Thunder and New York Knicks, and two matchups with the Atlanta Hawks, who are currently on an 11-game winning streak. The Celtics can beat these teams, but they’ll have to work for it.

Additionally, if the Celtics have the same record as the Pistons at the end of the season, they will still be the No. 2 seed because they do not have a tiebreaker. That means if the Celtics want to capture the No. 1 seed, they’ll have to stay ahead by a few games.

The Pistons are left with the 15th toughest schedule in the league, and that’s probably good news for them as they try to move forward without their star player.

It will be interesting to see if the Celtics can make a move with a few weeks left in the regular season, but there’s no doubt it can be done.

The Los Angeles Lakers defeated the Houston Rockets 124–116 for their seventh consecutive win. It was also the Lakers’ second win against the Rockets in three days, giving them a tiebreaker in the battle for the No. 3 seed. According to LA sports reporter Law Murray, after the win over the Rockets, the Lakers have now won the tiebreaker against all of their closest Western Conference opponents.

“The Lakers should be the 3rd seed in the West and a trip to the semifinals. This season they have all the relevant tiebreakers – 2-1 vs. Rockets (can only play three quarters) – 2-1 vs. Nuggets (lost in Memphis) – 3-0 vs. Timberwolves (ant knee),” Law posted on X.

The Lakers swept a two-game set in Houston this week. Remarkably, this was a huge turnaround after their poor performance against the Rockets on Christmas Day. The win gave Los Angeles a 1.5-game lead over the Timberwolves with a 44–25 record. They also hold a 2.5 game lead over the Rockets.

As the final stretch of the regular season approaches, the Lakers are hitting their stride. Currently, the No. 3 seed appears to be the goal as they trail the San Antonio Spurs by seven games with 13 games remaining. Because of this, if the Lakers continue to win they will likely start the playoffs as the No. 3 seed.

These two wins were a major achievement in the playoff preview between the Lakers and the Rockets. If the teams meet again, it could turn out to be one of the best series of the playoffs.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are doing a solid job of sticking with their injury absences, including Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams. Unfortunately, despite a valiant effort on Wednesday against the Detroit Pistons, it came to a halt.

Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs earned their tenth consecutive win with a comeback victory over the Toronto Raptors, despite a relatively quiet game from superstar Victor Wembanyama.

With that win, the Spurs moved to within just two games of Oklahoma City for the number two seed in the Western Conference, a feat that seemed impossible when the Thunder got off to a blazing 24–1 start to the regular season.

X, formerly of ClutchPoints, said on Twitter, “The Thunder have just suffered their 15th loss, which is already more than last season. It’s a sharp turnaround for a team that started the year 24-1.”

Of course, injuries are a big part of the reason the Thunder have slipped up a bit, but even before Gilgeous-Alexander went down with an abdominal strain, Oklahoma City was already showing some signs of slipping, with the team losing four of the five regular season matchups it played against San Antonio this season.

Meanwhile, the Spurs are 5.5 games ahead of the Houston Rockets and Denver Nuggets for second place, meaning it’s highly likely that San Antonio and Oklahoma City will be the top two seeds in the West when all is said and done.

Many are already anticipating a Western Conference Finals showdown between the two teams, rekindling the rivalry between the teams from the days when Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook wore Thunder jerseys, while Tim Duncan and Kawhi Leonard suited up for the Spurs in the mid-2010s.

Thankfully for the Thunder, they won’t see the Spurs again this season until a potential playoff matchup, if that happens.

Much like Jack Hughes and Team USA faced Team Canada at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the New Jersey Devils (28-28-2) visited the Pittsburgh Penguins (29-15-2) without Sidney Crosby.

Crosby was injured in Canada’s semi-final match against Finland and could not mount a tough challenge in the gold medal game. As a result, the Penguins placed him on injured reserve, and he would be absent for approximately four weeks.

The Devils are chasing the Penguins head-to-head in an unlikely quest for the playoffs. As the NHL schedule resumes after another boring, punchless loss last night, the Devils will be looking to find any kind of score tonight against Pittsburgh.

Let’s dive into tonight’s matchup.

What to Know vs Penguins

– The Devils and Steel City face off for the second of four matches this season after the Jersey side defeated the Pens in a 2-1 shootout win at the Rock on November 8.

-Arseny Gritsyuk scored the only goal in regulation against Pittsburgh on November 8, while Paul Cotter (GDG) and Jesper Bratt both scored in the shootout round.

-Jake Allen got the win between the pipes against Pittsburgh and stopped both of Pittsburgh’s shootout attempts.

—Bratt has 28 career points (8G-20A) in 31 career games against Pittsburgh, the second-most points of his career against a single opponent (vs. PHI – 29).

—Looking Back…Dawson Mercer earned his first career NHL hat trick against Pittsburgh in April of 2022–23.

-In points… Nico Hischier is first in the NHL with 687 face-off wins this season, while Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby is second with 649 face-off wins in 2025-26, per Jan. 7.

—The Devils and Penguins have both recorded three games without a win.

2025-26 vs penguins

11/8/25 SOW 2-1 Prudential Center

1/8/26 L 4-1 PPG Paints Arena

2/26/26 7:00 PM ET PPG Paints Arena

4/9/26 7:00 PM ET Prudential Center

devils vs penguins

All-time record: 131-112-17-6

All-time home record: 70-49-13-2

All-time road record: 61-63-4-3

Projected Devils Lineup*

Ahead

Timo Meyer – Nico Hischier – Dawson Mercer

Jasper Bratt – Jack Hughes – Connor Brown

Arseny Gritsyuk – Cody Glass – Lenny Haminaho

Paul Couture – Nick Bjugstad – Maxim Tsyplyakov

defenseman

Brett Pesce – Jonathan Kovacevic

Jonas Seigenthaler – Dougie Hamilton

Brendan Dillon – Simon Nemec

goaltender

jacob markstrom

jake allen

*Lineup is subject to change

Current injuries: Jack McEwen (upper body, out for the season), Luke Hughes (separated shoulder).

2025-26 Total man-games lost: 263

Projected Penguins Lineup*

Ahead

Avery Hayes – Ricard Raquel – Ben Kindel

Igor Chinakhov – Tommy Novak – Evgeni Malkin

Anthony Mantha – Ben Kindel – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

defenseman

Parker Wotherspoon – Eric Carlson

Samuel Girard – Kris Letang

Ryan Shea – Connor Clifton

goaltender

stuart skinner

artur silov

*Lineup is subject to change

How to watch the Devils game – 7:00 pm ET

See: MSGSN

Radio: Devils Hockey Net

next up

Saturday, February 28 at St. Louis 5:00 PM
Tuesday, March 3 vs. Florida, 7:00 pm
Wednesday, March 4 vs. Toronto, 7:00 PM
Saturday, March 7 vs. NY Rangers, 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 8 vs. St. Louis, 5:00 PM

James is the fully certified New Jersey Devils beat reporter for New Jersey Hockey Now on SportsNote and … More about James Nicholls

After the Orlando Magic bounced back from a double-overtime loss to the Phoenix Suns with a two-point win (111-109) over the LA Clippers, Anthony Black discussed the keys to his team securing a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference. In a season where the young and up-and-coming Detroit Pistons sit comfortably at the top of the standings, the Black and Magic are looking to build on their appearance in the play-in tournament last season.

The Magic finished with a .500 record (41–41) in 2024–25, seventh-best in the Eastern Conference. Black says the league can expect the Magic to perform best brand of basketball “Amid the final stretch of the regular season,” he said, according to ESPN’s NBA Today.

“You know, just being consistent in the way we play. Just the energy that we bring every night, especially on the defensive side of the ball,” Black said. “Just making a push. We hope to play our best basketball this season. Just figuring it out.”

“You know, just being consistent in the way we play.”

Magic guard Anthony Black on what the team needs to do to become a top-six seed in the Eastern Conference pic.twitter.com/iaky7roadM3

– NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) 23 February 2026

Anthony Black scored 11 points in the Magic’s win against the Clippers. All five starters reached double figures, including Paolo Banchero (16 points) and Wendell Carter Jr. (15 points), with Desmond Bane scoring 36 points.

Paolo Banchero reveals Magic’s biggest issues after Suns loss

After bouncing back with a hard-fought win against the Clippers, the Magic could bring back Jalen Suggs for Tuesday when they take on the Lakers. Magic forward Paolo Banchero highlighted his team’s shortcomings in Sunday’s double overtime loss, which were also evident in Sunday’s win against the Clippers.

Banchero said, “I wasn’t on the ball so my focus was on protecting the inbounder. I didn’t really look too much, just turned my head and the ball was in the air.”

“I don’t mean ideal, but [I] Thought we played hard, I didn’t think we made enough plays down the stretch they did – a little more than we did and yes, definitely a little bit of a loss. Now! [a] Tough game.”

Tuesday’s match against the Lakers will conclude the Magic’s four-game road trip.