The 2025-26 NBA season was supposed to be a “gap year” for the Celtics after Jayson Tatum ruptured his Achilles and the team lost key members of their championship core in the offseason. But fast forward to today, and the Celtics are the second seed in the Eastern Conference at 43-21.
Tatum made his season debut against the Mavericks last Friday, and he almost put up a triple-double. Many believe his return (assuming he returns to his all-NBA form) drastically boosts their NBA 2026 odds of competing for their second Larry O’Brien trophy in three seasons.
Adversely, Tatum’s return will eventually ruin Jaylen Brown’s chances of winning this year’s league MVP, especially since Shai Gilgeous-Alexander continues to lead the league-leading Thunder, who recently became the first team this season to reach 50 regular-season wins.
Here are some of the biggest NBA 2026 updates, courtesy of SBOTOP.
Celtics are unbeaten since Tatum’s comeback
Before his season debut against the Mavericks, Jayson Tatum teased his return via his four-episode YouTube series entitled “The Quiet Work,” which gave fans a glimpse of his arduous rehab journey in the past few months. At the time, it was confirmed that Tatum will return at some point this season, but not as soon as last week.
And that’s why many fans were leery when it was announced that Tatum would play against the Mavericks. Some felt the Celtics forward should continue to sit out for the rest of the season as a precaution, while some commended him for his desire and love for the game.
Tatum started and played 27 minutes against Dallas last Friday. After shaking off some rust early in the game, he caught his rhythm late in the second period and eventually finished with 15 points, 12 rebounds, and seven assists on 6-for-16 shooting from the field in the 120-100 rout. He followed it up with a 20-point game against the Cavaliers on Sunday to help the Celtics secure a 109-98 road win.
The only downer for the Celtics is that Tatum’s return coincided with Nikola Vucevic’s serious finger injury. The two-time NBA All-Star is expected to be out for at least three to four weeks, leaving them one center short in the frontcourt rotation.
Gilgeous-Alexander ties Wilt Chamberlain in scoring milestone
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has tied Wilt Chamberlain’s long-standing record of most consecutive 20-point games in NBA history (126) after he produced 35 points (game-high) on 14-for-21 shooting from the field in 39 minutes of action during the Thunder’s 129-126 home victory against the Nuggets on Monday. He punctuated his historic night by hitting the game-winning three-pointer with 3.3 seconds remaining.
The Thunder star also had a career-high 15 assists without committing a turnover. According to ESPN, LeBron James is the only other player to have at least 35 points and 15 assists without turnovers in a game since turnovers became an official statistic in 1977-78.
Gilgeous-Alexander also received enough support from Jaylin Williams, Ajay Mitchell, Jared McCain, and Isaiah Joe, who produced 29, 24, 13, and 13 points, as the Thunder were without Chet Holmgren (illness), Alex Caruso (hip), Jalen Williams (hamstring), and Isaiah Hartenstein (calf).
The reigning league MVP is eyeing to surpass Chamberlain when the Thunder face the Celtics for the first time this season on Thursday in a battle of the past two NBA champions. Oklahoma City will conclude their four-game homestand against Minnesota on Sunday before opening their five-game road trip against Orlando next Tuesday.
Clippers back to .500 for the first time in a long while
After beating the Knicks 126-118 on Monday, the Clippers have now won five of their last six games to improve to 32-32, marking the first time they hit the .500 mark since early November.
Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers in scoring with 29 points, seven rebounds, eight assists, and two steals on 10-for-19 shooting from the field in 35 minutes of action. It was his 42nd consecutive match with at least 20 points, the second-longest active streak in the NBA and third-longest in franchise history.
Bennedict Mathurin provided a huge spark off the bench by contributing 28 points and seven rebounds on 9-for-20 shooting from the field. Darius Garland, Brook Lopez, and Derrick Jones Jr. added 23, 16, and 16 points, respectively. At the time of writing, the Clippers are eighth in the Western Conference, level with the ninth-seeded Warriors. As Leonard said during his postgame interview, LA still have a long way to go to secure a guaranteed playoff spot, as they’re still at least seven games behind the Top 6 seeds.
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