NBA news, live updates: Magic’s Franz Wagner returns Wednesday; Joel Embiid ruled out after April Fool’s confusion; Lakers and Nuggets clinch playoff spots

The Orlando Magic have cleared forward Franz Wagner to return to action on Wednesday night, having missed 22 games with an ankle injury, the team announced.

Golden State Warriors point guard Stephen Curry is close to making his return. Curry’s goal is to reportedly play against the Houston Rockets on Sunday, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The 38-year-old point guard last played on Jan. 30 against the Detroit Pistons after suffering a knee injury.

With a few hours to go before his team is set to take on the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, Joel Embiid’s playing status is unclear.

The Philadelphia 76ers originally announced Embiid would miss the contest due to an illness, but the center posted on social media that his injury designation must have been an “April Fools joke.”

In his tweet, Embiid mentioned he played against the Miami Heat on Monday despite the same symptoms.

The Phoenix Suns fell to the Orlando Magic 115-111 on Tuesday night. As soon as that game went final, a pair of Western Conference squads punched their tickets to the postseason.

With the Suns’ loss, the Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets both clinched playoff spots. The Lakers also claimed the Pacific Division crown.

Anthony Davis is progressing as expected from a hand injury and has been cleared for light contact, the Wizards announced Tuesday.

However, with only seven games remaining on the Wizards’ schedule and the team one of many tanking at this point of the season, you have to wonder how much they try actually getting him on the court.

The New York Knicks didn’t play Monday night. But they clinched their spot in the postseason.

With the 76ers’ 119-109 loss to the Heat Monday night, the Knicks are guaranteed to finish in no worse than sixth place in the Eastern Conference and have earned a guaranteed playoff spot.

But the Knicks are setting their sights higher than sixth place. At 48-27 as of Monday night, the Knicks stood firmly in third place in the East, two games ahead of the fourth-place Cavaliers and four games ahead of the fifth-place Raptors.

They’re in strong position to lock up home-court advantage in the first round. But a potential second-round matchup against a Celtics team with home-court advantage awaits. The 50-24 Celtics leave a 112-102 loss to the Hawks Monday with a 2.5 game edge over the Knicks for second place with eight games remaining on their schedule.

The Minnesota Timberwolves could be without one of their key players for the rest of the regular season as they battle for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.

Jaden McDaniels is listed as week-to-week with patellar tendinitis and a bone bruise in his left knee, the team announced on Monday.

However, Minnesota could get Anthony Edwards back for Monday’s matchup with the Dallas Mavericks. He was upgraded to questionable on the injury report after missing the past six games with a right knee injury.

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The Boston Celtics officially secured their spot in the playoffs with Sunday’s 114-99 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

Jayson Tatum had his best game since returning from his Achilles tear with 32 points, 8 assists and 5 rebounds. Jaylen Brown missed the game with left Achilles tendinitis.

Boston is now guaranteed to have no worse than the Eastern Conference’s No. 4 seed when the playoffs begin.

For more about the NBA’s postseason picture, read here.

Philadelphia picked up a much-needed win over Charlotte on Saturday, with the two trading three-pointers in an exciting finish.

Joel Embiid ended up playing hero for the Sixers, hitting what would prove to be the game-winning three pointer with a minute left in the game.

Both Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are back.

They’ve returned to the lineup for the Philadelphia 76ers’ game versus the Charlotte Hornets on Saturday.

Maxey missed the past 10 games with a sprained right pinkie. Oubre hadn’t played since he went off for a season-high 30 points versus the Memphis Grizzlies on March 10. He had been dealing with a left elbow sprain.

The Milwaukee Bucks are officially eliminated from the 2025-26 NBA playoffs after their 127-98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

At 29-44, the Bucks join the Chicago Bulls in being eliminated from postseason consideration. And now another offseason with trade rumors about Giannis Antetokounmpo can begin.

Milwaukee’s loss also clinches a play-in spot for the Miami Heat (39-35). With eight games remaining, the Heat still have an opportunity to challenge for the No. 6 seed and guarantee a playoff berth. The Philadelphia 76ers, Charlotte Hornets and Orlando Magic are ahead of Miami in the standings.

The Chicago Bulls are headed for the NBA Draft lottery after their 131-113 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday. The loss guaranteed the Bulls will finish no better than 11th in the Eastern Conference.

The 10 teams for the East postseason field are nearly set. The Milwaukee Bucks will be officially eliminated with one more loss or if the Orlando Magic, Charlotte Hornets and Miami Heat win at least one more game.

The Golden State Warriors announced on Friday that star guard Stephen Curry will be re-evaluated next week, ruling him out for at least the next two games because of his injured right knee.

Curry had been expected to scrimmage this week, but was unable. If Curry returns immediately after Sunday’s game in Denver, the Warriors will have only seven games remaining ahead of the postseason.

“We’re not bringing him back [only] for the play-in game,” Kerr said, according to ESPN’s Anthony Slater. “He’d need to play some games. We need to give him a runway if this is going to work. And we are running out of games.”

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The Philadelphia 76ers are getting some late-season reinforcements. Joel Embiid and Paul George returned on Wednesday to the tune of a combined 63 points in the team’s 157-point outburst against the Chicago Bulls.

And now it looks like both Tyrese Maxey and Kelly Oubre Jr. are nearing their first games back.

They’re each listed as “questionable” on the Sixers’ injury report for Saturday’s game versus the Charlotte Hornets. Maxey has missed the past 10 games with a sprained right pinkie. Oubre hasn’t played since he went off for a season-high 30 points versus the Memphis Grizzlies on March 10. He’s been dealing with a left elbow sprain.

The Minnesota Timberwolves announced Friday that Anthony Edwards will be out Saturday against the Detroit Pistons, however, the team also noted that the four-time All-Star guard has been cleared for on-court basketball practice activities.

That means a return could be on the horizon for Edwards, who has missed the past five games with right knee patellofemoral pain syndrome.

The Wolves play the Dallas Mavericks on the road Monday night.

Here’s a look at the postseason scenarios for Friday’s game slate, per NBA Communications:

• Boston (7:30 p.m. ET vs. ATL) clinches a playoff spot with a win AND Toronto loss (8:30 p.m. ET vs. NO)

• Golden State (10 p.m. ET vs. WAS) is locked into the play-in with a loss AND Houston win (8 p.m. ET at MEM)

• Chicago is eliminated with a loss (8 p.m. ET at OKC)

NBA commissioner Adam Silver vowed to put an end to tanking when he spoke to the media Wednesday. When asked about the issue, Silver said the league was “going to fix it. Full stop.”

The NBA attempted to do exactly that at its Board of Governors meeting this week. Three new anti-tanking ideas were reportedly introduced at the meeting, according to ESPN’s Shams Charania.

The three proposals vary in both size and structure. Here’s how each one would work, per Charania.

1. The first proposal involves an 18-team lottery. That lottery would include the bottom 10 teams that miss out on the play-in tournament and the eight teams that qualify for it. The bottom 10 teams would have equal odds in the lottery. The other eight teams will have their odds split in descending order.

2. The second proposal involves a 22-team lottery. It includes the same teams involved in the first proposal, but adds the four teams that get eliminated in the first round of the playoffs. Teams would then be ranked in the lottery based on their record over the past two seasons. Charania said the top-4 teams would be drawn as part of the lottery in this scenario.

3. The third proposal also includes 18 teams — the same outlined in the first proposal. The teams with the five worst records would have the same odds. A lottery for the top-5 picks would be drawn and the remaining 13 teams would then get their own lottery. Any of the five teams with the worst records that don’t wind up with a top-5 pick would be guaranteed to pick in the top-10 in this system. So a truly awful team wouldn’t slip too far down the draft board.

None of those proposals are finalized, and they will likely be refined ahead of being put to a vote in May.

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