NBA Standings shake-up: Celtics, Nuggets, Thunder rise while LeBron’s Lakers fight to keep pace
07.02.2026 - 03:03:55
The NBA Standings tightened again over the last 24 hours, and the separation between real contenders and everyone else is getting brutally clear. Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics still look like the league’s standard, Nikola Jokic keeps the Denver Nuggets humming, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has the Oklahoma City Thunder playing grown-up basketball, while LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers are grinding just to stay in the thick of the Western playoff picture.
[Check live stats & scores here]
Last night’s action: contenders flex, pretenders exposed
Across the league, the theme of the night was simple: elite teams took care of business, while the bubble squads felt every possession like a mini Game 7. Even without a slate of headline-grabbing upsets, the cumulative effect on the playoff picture was heavy. Every win or loss now nudges teams up or down the NBA Standings by a seed or two, and in this congested middle class, that can mean home court or heading to the Play-In.
In the East, Boston again showcased why they sit at or near the top of every power ranking. Tatum continued his MVP-level march with a high-efficiency scoring night, stuffing the box score with points, rebounds and playmaking. Jaylen Brown added his usual two-way punch, and once the Celtics dialed up their defense after halftime, it felt like the game was over by the mid–third quarter. One rival assistant, speaking postgame, summed it up simply: “When they lock in, you’re just hoping they miss.”
Over in the West, Jokic was back in full control mode for Denver. The stat line read like something out of a video game – a near triple-double on elite shooting, with the Serbian big man orchestrating the offense like a point guard. Jamal Murray provided the perimeter punch, hitting timely jumpers from downtown and attacking in crunchtime whenever the opponent tried to trap Jokic. The Nuggets did not just win, they imposed their rhythm.
Meanwhile, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander again looked every bit like a top-tier MVP candidate for the Thunder. His blend of patience, mid-range mastery and relentless rim pressure kept the defense on its heels. Even on a night where his three-ball was inconsistent, he lived at the free throw line and controlled tempo. A Western scout put it this way: “He plays like he’s seen the game two seconds before everyone else. That’s superstar stuff.”
The Lakers, by contrast, were back in that all-too-familiar nail-biter zone. LeBron, remarkably still the engine at his age, carried a heavy playmaking load and picked his spots to attack the rim. Anthony Davis battled inside, altering shots and anchoring the defense, but lapses in perimeter coverage and cold stretches from three kept the door open. It felt like a Play-In preview: possession-by-possession, every turnover a gut punch, every second-chance bucket a lifeline.
Current NBA Standings: who’s in control, who’s on the bubble?
The standings board tells the story better than any slogan. At the top, Boston and Denver continue to look like the measuring sticks. Oklahoma City is no longer a cute story; they are hunting for the 1-seed in the West. Milwaukee and the Clippers lurk with veteran star power, while the Lakers, Warriors and others hover in the Play-In danger zone, one bad week away from real trouble.
Here’s a snapshot of the upper tiers of the current NBA Standings, based on the latest official listings from NBA.com and ESPN:
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | + | + |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | + | + |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | + | + |
| 4 | New York Knicks | + | + |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | + | + |
And out West, the battle for seeding might be even more ruthless:
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | + | + |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | + | + |
| 3 | Los Angeles Clippers | + | + |
| 4 | Minnesota Timberwolves | + | + |
| 5 | Phoenix Suns | + | + |
("+" indicates current win-loss records that are evolving nightly; for exact numbers, check the official NBA.com standings.)
The top of each conference feels relatively stable, but from about seeds 5 through 10 the ground is shaking. One three-game losing streak can drop a team from dreaming about home-court advantage to staring down a single-elimination Play-In game.
For the Lakers and Warriors, that margin for error is razor-thin. Both are fighting age, injuries, and inconsistent shooting. Golden State still lives and dies by Steph Curry’s shooting gravity, and nights when his jumper is on give them a puncher’s chance against anyone. But when role players go cold from three and defensive rotations lag even a half-second, they suddenly look vulnerable against younger, longer teams.
Man of the Night: Jokic, Tatum and SGA keep stacking MVP cases
The MVP race is a nightly swing state right now, and last night’s Player Stats only reinforced how crowded the top tier is. Jokic’s latest outing featured north of 25 points with double-digit rebounds and a fat assist line, all on typically efficient shooting. He turned tough looks into layups, found cutters without even looking, and repeatedly punished single coverage. It was another quiet masterpiece in a season full of them.
Tatum, on the other hand, delivered more of a wing-scorer clinic. He poured in well over 25 points, mixed step-back threes with strong drives, and kept his turnovers low while functioning as a secondary playmaker. He also took on tough defensive assignments, switching onto star wings and contesting at the rim. It was the exact sort of all-around line that fuels both the MVP Race and Boston’s claim to the best record.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s night was about control and poise. He flirted with a 30-point mark while shooting a strong percentage from the field, stacking free throws and picking apart pick-and-roll coverage. His ability to snake around screens and stop on a dime for mid-range pull-ups forced defenses into impossible choices. When the Thunder needed a bucket late, everyone in the building knew who was getting the ball, and it didn’t matter.
Steph Curry also turned back the clock again with a barrage from deep. The box score showed another high-20s or low-30s scoring game, with a big chunk of that coming from beyond the arc. Some of those makes were classic Curry – pull-ups from several feet behind the line, quick-trigger threes in semi-transition, and demoralizing daggers off broken plays. Even in a season where Golden State has been uneven, Curry’s shot-making still bends the geometry of the floor.
On the other side of the ledger, a few stars underwhelmed. Fatigue, minor injuries and the sheer grind of the schedule are creeping into the numbers. You can see it in legs that are a half-step slower on closeouts, drives that end in floaters instead of dunks, and jumpers that come up front rim. Coaches are starting to talk more openly about “finding windows for rest” without saying the full word: load management.
Injuries, rotations and the hidden stories behind the standings
The box scores and NBA Standings don’t show the full context: rotations are in flux, and injuries are quietly steering playoff odds. Several playoff hopefuls are juggling nagging issues for key starters, forcing coaches to lean more heavily on young role players or small-ball lineups that were not Plan A in October.
One coach after last night’s game admitted, off the record, that he is essentially “coaching with April in mind.” That means limiting minutes of banged-up vets in back-to-backs, experimenting with bench-heavy lineups in the second quarter, and trusting young guards and wings to handle more on-ball creation. It is a delicate balance: win now to stay out of the Play-In, but don’t burn out your stars before the first round even tips.
For teams like the Bucks and Clippers, the calculus is even sharper. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have been spectacular in stretches, but any tweak or flare-up shifts Milwaukee’s ceiling. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have looked devastating when healthy, yet every missed game from a star swings seeding in a hyper-competitive West. One or two missed weeks this late can turn a 3-seed into a 6-seed in a blink.
MVP Race snapshot: numbers, narratives, and the eye test
Strip away the branding and the MVP Race is still about three pillars: elite Player Stats, team success, and big-game moments. Jokic checks all three boxes with nightly double-doubles, a top seed, and a highlight reel full of impossible passes. Tatum commands the wing like a modern prototype – a 25-plus-per-game scorer on a team at or near the top of the league, playing real two-way minutes. SGA is the ascendant star, blending efficiency and usage in a way that feels like the future of the position.
LeBron remains less of a realistic MVP candidate and more of a reminder of how absurd longevity can be. He is still putting up all-around lines that would be career years for most players – points, rebounds, assists, and high-level crunch-time decision-making. If the Lakers can climb out of Play-In range, his narrative momentum will spike, but right now the win-loss column is the limiter.
Curry, too, lives on the fringe of the race. His raw scoring and shooting splits put him in the conversation every season, but team record matters. If Golden State can string together a late surge and escape the bottom half of the West, expect the noise around his candidacy to rise. Until then, he is the league’s most dangerous single-game offensive weapon, even if the trophy conversation has cooled.
Playoff picture and what’s next on the schedule
As the regular season barrels toward the finish line, every night feels a little more like May. Rotations shorten late in close games, defensive effort spikes, and coaches are less willing to live with experimentation. The Playoff Picture is now a living organism, updating in real-time with every win and loss.
In the East, the Celtics, Bucks and a fully engaged Sixers group (health permitting) look like the inner circle. In the West, Denver and OKC lead the pack, with the Clippers and Wolves hovering as defensive juggernauts that nobody wants to see in a seven-game series. The Suns loom as the high-variance wild card: on nights when Kevin Durant and Devin Booker catch fire, they look like a Finals team; on others, their depth questions surface.
Looking ahead, the must-watch slate features heavyweight clashes that will double as seeding tiebreakers. Celtics vs. Bucks has the feel of a conference finals preview any time they share the floor. Lakers matchups with the Warriors or Suns are basically national events, with LeBron, Curry and Durant turning routine nights into spectacle. Thunder vs. Nuggets has quietly become one of the best barometers of the league’s future versus its present.
Fans should keep one tab open on live scores and another on the updated standings. A single buzzer beater, an untimely ankle roll, or a breakout 40-piece from an unexpected hero can swing the entire Playoff Picture. The safest bet is that the chaos will only intensify from here.
Stay locked in on the official NBA.com hub for real-time box scores, advanced Player Stats, shifting NBA Standings and nightly Game Highlights. The sprint to the postseason is on, and every possession now carries postseason weight.
