NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics answer, Curry keeps Warriors alive
26.01.2026 - 04:02:03
The NBA standings got another jolt over the last 24 hours as LeBron James pushed the Los Angeles Lakers up the Western ladder, Jayson Tatum kept the Boston Celtics steady near the top of the East, and Stephen Curry delivered the kind of clutch shot-making that still keeps the Golden State Warriors in the conversation. In a night packed with swings for the playoff picture, every possession felt like April basketball.
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LeBron turns on playoff mode, Lakers grab a crucial win
LeBron James might insist he does not flip a switch, but the way he controlled crunchtime in the Lakers’ latest win said otherwise. Attacking downhill, hunting mismatches, then stepping into threes from downtown, LeBron piled up points and playmaking touches that completely shifted the game’s tempo. The Lakers needed this one to keep pace in the Western Conference logjam, and their leader answered with classic bully-ball drives and smart halfcourt orchestration.
His final line popped off the box score: a commanding scoring night paired with double-digit assists and a near double-double on the glass. It was less about raw numbers, though, and more about timing. He stopped every budding opponent run with a power drive or a skip pass to the weak side corner. When the game tightened in the final three minutes, he walked the ball up like it was a playoff series, reading the defense, calling out actions, and surgically picking apart mismatches.
Afterward, the Lakers’ locker room sounded like a group that knows they are living in the margins of the NBA standings. One veteran voice summed it up: they cannot spot anyone a bad quarter anymore, not with how crowded the 6-through-10 spots are out West. The subtext was obvious: as long as LeBron plays at this level and Anthony Davis anchors the back line, the Lakers are nobody’s preferred first-round matchup.
Celtics keep their edge, Tatum stays steady at the top
On the other coast, the Celtics kept handling business like a team that has learned from past playoff scars. Jayson Tatum did not need a nuclear scoring binge to impact the game; instead, he leaned into a balanced line of points, rebounds and assists, reading double-teams and trusting the shooters spaced around him. The ball zipped, the defense stayed connected, and Boston once again looked like the league’s most complete two-way machine.
Tatum’s efficiency stood out. He attacked early in the clock, got to his spots, and punished switches in the mid-post. When extra help came, he hit the roll man or the pop to the slot, turning simple reads into efficient offense. A quiet but clinical night like this is exactly why he sits firmly in the MVP race talk: even when he’s not hunting 40, his fingerprints smudge every possession.
Their head coach pointed to the defensive focus as the real story. Boston submitted another wire-to-wire, top-tier effort: closing out to shooters, walling up in the paint, and turning missed shots into transition opportunities. That defensive backbone is why the Celtics remain on top of the NBA standings and still project as the favorite to secure the East’s No. 1 seed.
Curry keeps the Warriors’ season on life support
Steph Curry stepped onto the floor knowing what the math says: Golden State cannot afford many more slip-ups if it wants anything better than a back-end Play-In slot. So he did what he does best: stretch the floor and belief of everyone in the building. From the opening tip, Curry was in attack mode, flying off screens, pulling from well beyond the arc, and probing for floaters when defenders sold out at the three-point line.
His player stats once again resembled a video game: a heavy scoring load on efficient shooting, a flurry of threes from deep downtown, and just enough playmaking to keep teammates engaged. The crowd rode every pull-up, and when he drilled a dagger three in crunchtime after relocating from the corner to the wing, it felt like vintage Warriors chaos all over again.
Still, the margin for error is razor thin. The Warriors’ defense oscillated between solid rotations and frustrating breakdowns, leaving Curry’s heroics vulnerable to late-game swings. Opposing coaches continue to target their smaller lineups, hunting mismatches and attacking the rim. For Golden State, the reality is clear: if they want a shot at bothering a top seed, the defense has to rise closer to league average, because Curry alone cannot drag them through four tough rounds.
How the NBA Standings look after the latest swing
The latest results tightened both conferences, particularly around the Play-In cutoff line. With 24 to 48 hours worth of action reshuffling the order, here is where the top of each conference broadly stacks up right now based on the most recent official tables and results from NBA.com and ESPN:
| East Rank | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Firm grip on No. 1, elite on both ends |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Chasing hard, offense humming |
| 3 | New York Knicks | Surging, physical playoff-style defense |
| 4 | Philadelphia 76ers | Health-dependent, dangerous when whole |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | On the rise, balanced rotation |
Behind those five, the play-in mix in the East remains volatile. Teams like the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic are trading mini-runs of wins and losses, while the Brooklyn Nets and other fringe squads are fighting simply to stay within striking distance. One two-game skid can drop you from feeling safe to glancing nervously at the out-of-picture column.
| West Rank | Team | Status |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Young, fearless, still rising |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | Champions pacing themselves, Jokic in control |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Defense-first, bruising frontcourt |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | High ceiling, star trio finding rhythm |
| 5 | Dallas Mavericks | Luka and Kyrie driving elite offense |
Hovering below that top pack, the Lakers, Phoenix Suns, New Orleans Pelicans and Warriors are tightly bunched, living and dying by each night’s result. That is where last night’s Lakers win and Warriors performance carry such weight: one clutch finish or one blown lead can be the difference between securing a top-six spot or sweating out a must-win Play-In game.
Top performers and box score storylines
The individual stat lines that popped into the spotlight over the last slate of games were a reminder of just how high the bar has become for stars in this era. LeBron’s efficient scoring and high-assist night highlighted how he can still toggle between point forward and primary scorer depending on the matchup. His shot chart was a coach’s dream: paint touches, rhythm threes, and controlled midrange looks when the clock dictated it.
Tatum’s balanced night may not lead highlight shows, but the analytics love it. Strong true shooting, low turnover count, solid rebounding, and structured playmaking against loaded-up defenses. When the Celtics get that version of Tatum, their offense rarely bogs down into isolation-heavy possessions. Instead, they keep defenses in rotation and pile up corner threes and free throws.
For Curry, the box score once again traced his gravitational pull. Even when traps forced the ball out of his hands, his movement generated secondary drives and slip cuts for teammates. His assist and hockey-assist numbers only tell part of the story; the real impact is how often defenses abandon their base coverage to sell out on his shooting, only to get burned by a smart backdoor cut or a short-roll decision.
Not every star night sparkled. A couple of high-usage guards elsewhere on the slate struggled badly with efficiency, bricking from deep and forcing drives into set defenses. Those off nights matter, especially for teams scrapping in the 7–10 range. In this compressed playoff race, a 4-of-17 clunker from a primary creator can swing tiebreakers weeks from now.
MVP race check: who is really in the mix?
The MVP race continues to feel like a weekly power ranking rather than a fixed hierarchy. Tatum’s steadiness will keep his name on every ballot; he is the best player on a team that has lived at or near the top of the NBA standings all season. What voters will weigh is how much they value all-around impact versus pure box-score firepower.
Out West, a familiar do-it-all big man keeps stacking monster nights with scoring, rebounding and elite playmaking from the elbow. Whenever he toys with another triple-double on ridiculous efficiency, the conversation naturally tilts his way. The advanced metrics back him up, painting a picture of a one-man offensive engine that lifts every lineup he touches.
LeBron will not have the regular-season counting stats or record to truly crack the top two or three names, but performances like this latest one strengthen his case as the league’s most influential outlier. He may not win the trophy this year, yet no top seed is thrilled about drawing him in a first-round matchup, especially if the supporting cast stays healthy and locked in.
Injuries, rotations and the quiet stories under the surface
As always in late-season basketball, the injury report is starting to read like a plot twist. Key contributors across several playoff hopefuls are either day-to-day or managing nagging issues, and coaches are juggling rotations every night. A wing with a sore hamstring here, a big man with an ankle tweak there, and suddenly a team’s defensive identity can wobble.
One coach around the league admitted that at this stage, they are trying to split the difference between load management and urgency. Rest too much and you slide down the table; push too hard and you risk losing someone for the games that really matter. Role players are feeling the ripple effects, with bench shooters and backup ball-handlers being thrown into longer stretches under genuine playoff pressure.
That volatility is why front offices are closely monitoring any late-season buyout or two-way shuffle. A single rotation-ready defender or knockdown shooter on the margin can swing a bench unit’s effectiveness in a seven-game series. The teams that adapt fastest to these micro-shifts in personnel will be the ones that do more than just show up in the postseason; they will actually dictate terms.
What’s next: must-watch matchups and pressure points
The next few days on the calendar are loaded with games that will reverberate through the standings. The Lakers are staring at another statement opportunity against a Western rival that sits just a rung or two above them. Win that, and suddenly the conversation shifts from survival to seeding. Drop it, and they are right back in the Play-In danger zone.
The Celtics, meanwhile, will be tested by a physical Eastern opponent intent on turning the game into a rock fight. That is the kind of matchup that has tripped them up in the past when the whistle tightens and the game crawls into halfcourt possessions. How Tatum and his co-stars respond will say plenty about their readiness for the postseason grind.
The Warriors do not have the luxury of picking their spots. Every game from here on out is effectively a mini elimination test. Curry’s margin for error is microscopic, and any night where the supporting cast fails to bring enough shooting or point-of-attack defense could shove them further toward the wrong side of the line.
For fans, that is the beauty and cruelty of this stretch of the NBA season. Every night, the NBA standings update and the narrative shifts: contenders separate, dark horses rise, and one bad week can bury a season’s worth of work. Lock in on the live scores, follow the box scores, and keep one eye on the MVP race, because the real sprint has already started.
