March 17, 2026, 6:06 a.m. ET
It’s the final month of the 2025-26 NBA regular season.
This means teams are running out of chances to make their final arguments for playoff seeding, just like players are running out of time to convince voters to select them for individual awards. It also means the best basketball of the year is in front of us, as the two-month marathon that is the NBA playoffs gets underway April 18.
But, before we get ahead of ourselves, this should make for a compelling finish to what has been an interesting season.
Here are the top five storylines to watch for the rest of the 2025-26 NBA regular season:
Can anyone catch the Pistons and Thunder atop the Eastern and Western Conferences?
Since the start of the season, the Oklahoma City Thunder have led the West wire-to-wire, even in the face of significant time lost due to injury. In the East, the Detroit Pistson took over sole possession of first on Nov. 7 and haven’t looked back since.
Being practical, there are only two teams in the East — the Boston Celtics (3½ games back) and the New York Knicks (5) — who can potentially catch Detroit. And while it doesn’t help that Detroit has the 22nd-toughest remaining schedule (.485, per Tankathon.com) and that the Pistons don’t play either Boston or New York the rest of the way, Detroit has been more vulnerable recently, losing six of its last 12 games.
The case is perhaps stronger for the San Antonio Spurs, who are just 3 games back of Oklahoma City. San Antonio has the NBA’s fourth-easiest remaining schedule (.452), while the Thunder have the league’s 11th-toughest (.519). And while the Thunder are playing extremely well and should get Jalen Williams back soon, the Spurs have been the hottest team in basketball, losing just two of their last 20 games.
Will the 65-game rule disqualify any stars in the MVP, individual awards races?
Injuries early in the season to some of the game’s biggest stars have complicated the pathway for individual awards.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (12 games missed) appears to be safe, with the ability to miss up to five games while maintaining eligibility. Gilgeous-Alexander has been consistent and appears to be the odds-on favorite to win his second-consecutive MVP.
Nikola Jokić (16) can miss only one more game, and, as the only players averaging a triple-double, he has a very compelling case for MVP.
Victor Wembanyama (15) can sit out no more than two of San Antonio’s remaining games. The overwhelming favorite for Defensive Player of the Year, Wembanyama has an outside shot at MVP consideration.
In the East, the race to avoid the play-in will be tight
After Monday night’s games, just 1½ games separates the No. 9 seed in the East from the No. 5 seed. And, since the top six teams in the conference claim automatic playoff bids, the battle to stay out of the play-in picture should intensify as the season wears on.
Teams headed in the right direction include the Orlando Magic (38-29; winners of seven of their last eight), Miami Heat (38-30; winners of 10 of their last 13) and the Atlanta Hawks (37-31; winners of 10 consecutive). Teams headed in the wrong direction include the Toronto Raptors (38-29; losers of six of their last 10) and the Philadelphia 76ers (37-31; losers of nine of their last 16). Injuries to Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid obviously don’t help Philadelphia, either.
Who will tank hardest? And who will win the sweepstakes for the No. 1 pick?
The picture at the bottom of the standings looks altogether different. It has become clear, whether through shutting players down or through unconventional player rotations, that certain teams are doing all they can to improve their positioning in the 2026 NBA Draft. This is particularly magnified for teams whose picks carry protections, like the Indiana Pacers.
Indiana’s first-round selection is Top-4 and 10-30 protected, which means that if the lottery places the Pacers (15-53; worst record in NBA) in any slot No. 5 through 9, that pick will convey to the Los Angeles Clippers. The same goes for the Top 8 protected pick belonging to the Washington Wizards (16-51; second-worst record in NBA).
Teams have become creative with injury reporting and are relying on maintenance surgeries to shut players down. With a very deep draft class that has elite star talent at the top, look for the tanking to become even more pronounced.
Will the NBA and its officials ease up on enforcement of foul baiting calls?
From Celtics star Jaylen Brown calling out players who intentionally seek contact to bait officials into making calls, to scores of fans complaining about the tactic on social media, will the NBA listen to appeals to change the way it officiates games?
Interestingly, the average number of personal fouls per game this season (19.9) is well off of the record mark for the modern era (26.2, in 1981-82), though it is a modest increase from last year’s total (18.6). Yet, somehow, the problem feels as worse as it has ever been.
Physicality and intensity always ramp up late in the regular season and postseason, and the NBA needs to determine whether its current strategy is viable. Certain players – Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson, Jokić, Luka Dončić among them – resort to the maneuver when faced with tight defense.
Frankly speaking, it’s a copout. Granted, they typically are taking advantage of overzealous defenders, but it also leads to a disjointed and often frustrating viewing experience.
The league typically doesn’t like to make such drastic corrections in the middle of a season, so this may be an issue it looks at in the offseason. But the viewing experience would go a long way if officials stopped falling for the bait. Once the NBA stops rewarding players, eventually they will cease trying.