Aur\u00e9lie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Friday, 20 February 2026 at 08:47<\/p>\n
After the break due to the All-Star Game, ten NBA games were on the schedule Thursday, and Victor Wembanyama (who won with the Spurs) and Maxime Raynaud (who lost with the Kings) stood out.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s time for the final stretch of the NBA regular season! After the break due to the All-Star Game, teams resumed competition on Thursday, and they have until April 12 to finish in the top ten of their Conference and thus compete in the play-in or playoffs. This will be a formality for Detroit, the leader of the East, who made a big statement by winning 111-126 against the second-placed New York. The Pistons emerged victorious without trembling, led by a tremendous Cade Cunningham, who silenced the Madison Square Garden with his 42 points on 17 of 34 shooting. On the other side, Jalen Brunson\u2019s 12 out of 20 (33 points in total) were not enough. Meanwhile, in 2nd place, Boston went on to win 110-121 against Golden State, who will be without Stephen Curry for another ten days. The Celtics led by as much as 34 points and were aided by an excellent Jaylen Brown, who recorded 23 points, 15 rebounds, and 13 assists (the 5th triple-double of his career), well supported by Payton Pritchard (26 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists).<\/p>\n
Johnson and Ingram shine like All-Stars<\/p>\n
Cleveland, in 4th place, had no particular trouble beating Brooklyn 112-84, never falling behind. Seven Cavaliers finished with at least ten points, including 17 for Donovan Mitchell. Toronto, in 5th place, won 101-110 against Chicago. The Raptors led most of the time, but the Bulls closed to 101-103 with 2 minutes and 12 seconds left before conceding a 7-0 run to end. Brandon Ingram led the Canadian franchise with 31 points. In 6th place, we find Philadelphia, defeated 107-117 by Atlanta in a tight match where the Hawks relied on a huge Jalen Johnson, who scored 32 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists (28 points for Maxey on the 76ers side).<\/p>\n
Spurs close in on Thunder<\/p>\n
In the West, the leader Oklahoma City did not play, and San Antonio took advantage to come within three wins of the Thunder, with their seventh consecutive victory. The Spurs defeated Phoenix 121-94, leading from the sixth to the final minute, with a lead that reached +32. Stephon Castle, with 20 points, and Victor Wembanyama, who finished with 17 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocks, led the Spurs in a match held in Austin. Devin Booker, the Suns\u2019 star, played for nine minutes before exiting due to hip pain. Houston is now in third place in the West, winning 101-105 against Charlotte by making the difference in the clutch moments. Kevin Durant carried the Rockets with 35 points and 8 rebounds, including hitting the two free throws with three seconds left to seal the victory.<\/p>\n
Denver falls just short, Sacramento sinks deeper<\/p>\n
Denver drops to fourth place after their 115-114 loss to the Clippers, in a match where neither team held a lead of more than ten points. The score was 107-107 with 46 seconds remaining, but the Californians made their free throws and Brook Lopez dunked to seal the victory. Conversely, Jamal Murray missed the last of the three free throws awarded to him with one second left, which could have forced overtime. In his home debut for the Clippers, Bennedict Mathurin impressed the crowd with 38 points. Finally, Orlando won 94-131 against Sacramento, despite Frenchman Maxime Raynaud\u2019s double-double (17 points, 14 rebounds), who is expected to start for the Kings until the end of the season following Domantas Sabonis\u2019 injury. This marks Sacramento\u2019s 15th consecutive defeat, a new franchise record. And the Kings will face the Spurs on Saturday\u2026<\/p>\n
NBA \/ REGULAR SEASON
Thursday, 19 February 2026
Charlotte Hornets \u2013 Houston Rockets: 101-105
Moussa Diabat\u00e9 (CHA), suspended, did not play
Tidjane Sala\u00fcn\u2019s stats (CHA): 20 minutes played, 9 points (3\/5 shooting including 2\/3 from 3pt range, 1\/2 free throws), 4 rebounds, 2 steals, 1 turnover, 2 fouls<\/p>\n
Cleveland Cavaliers \u2013 Brooklyn Nets: 112-84
Nolan Traor\u00e9\u2019s stats (BRO): 30 minutes played, 8 points (3\/11 shooting including 1\/3 from 3pt range, 1\/2 free throws), 1 rebound, 5 assists, 2 steals, 4 turnovers, 2 fouls<\/p>\n
Philadelphia 76ers \u2013 Atlanta Hawks: 107-117
Zaccharie Risacher\u2019s stats (ATL): 27 minutes played, 10 points (4\/8 shooting including 2\/4 from 3pt range, 0 free throws), 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 2 fouls<\/p>\n
Washington Wizards \u2013 Indiana Pacers: 112-105
Bilal Coulibaly\u2019s stats (WAS): 23 minutes played, 12 points (4\/9 shooting including 1\/3 from 3pt range, 3\/4 free throws), 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Alex Sarr (WAS), out with a groin injury, did not play<\/p>\n
New York Knicks \u2013 Detroit Pistons: 111-126
Pac\u00f4me Dadiet (NYK) was not in the squad
Mohamed Diawara\u2019s stats (NYK): 9 minutes played, 0 points (0 shots, 0 free throws), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 foul<\/p>\n
Chicago Bulls \u2013 Toronto Raptors: 101-110
Guerschon Yabusele\u2019s stats (CHI): 17 minutes played, 8 points (2\/5 shooting including 1\/3 from 3pt range, 3\/4 free throws), 5 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 foul
Noa Essengue (CHI), out with a shoulder injury, will miss the rest of the season<\/p>\n
San Antonio Spurs \u2013 Phoenix Suns: 121-94
Victor Wembanyama\u2019s stats (SAS): 25 minutes played, 17 points (7\/15 shooting including 1\/4 from 3pt range, 2\/2 free throws), 11 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 5 blocks, 1 turnover, 1 foul<\/p>\n
Sacramento Kings \u2013 Orlando Magic: 94-131
Maxime Raynaud\u2019s stats (SAC): 39 minutes played, 17 points (8\/13 shooting, 0 three-point attempts, 1\/1 free throw), 14 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 steal, 1 turnover, 1 foul
Noah Penda\u2019s stats (ORL): 5 minutes played, 0 points (0 shots, 0 free throws)<\/p>\n
Los Angeles Clippers \u2013 Denver Nuggets: 115-114
Nicolas Batum\u2019s stats (LAC): 18 minutes played, 6 points (2\/3 shooting including 2\/3 from 3pt range, 0 free throws), 2 rebounds<\/p>\n
Golden State Warriors \u2013 Boston Celtics: 110-121<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aur\u00e9lie Sacchelli, Media365, published on Friday, 20 February 2026 at 08:47 After the break due to the All-Star…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":493284,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,85],"class_list":["post-493283","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493283","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=493283"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/493283\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/493284"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=493283"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=493283"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=493283"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}