NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold line as Jokic and Giannis trade blows
25.01.2026 - 19:07:15
The NBA Standings tightened again overnight, with LeBron James dragging the Lakers deeper into the Western playoff hunt while Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics steady at the top of the East. Nikola Jokic and Giannis Antetokounmpo traded statement wins, Stephen Curry lit it up from downtown, and the entire playoff picture feels one crazy run away from flipping.
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LeBron turns on playoff mode, Lakers refuse to fade
Every time it feels like the Lakers are about to slip out of the race, LeBron James cranks the volume back up. His latest outing was another all-court masterclass: attacking the rim in transition, bullying smaller defenders on switches, and orchestrating half-court sets like a quarterback who has seen every coverage in the book.
Alongside him, Anthony Davis anchored the defense with a bruising double-double, owning the glass and deterring drives at the rim. The Lakers offense looked crisp, spacing the floor with timely cuts and corner threes, and their defense actually strung together stops instead of trading buckets. It felt more like a playoff game than a late-January grind: physical, chippy, and loaded with small adjustments from possession to possession.
Postgame, LeBron essentially said what everyone watching already knew: when the Lakers defend at this level, they can hang with anyone. The margin for error in the Western Conference is razor-thin, but this type of locked-in performance is exactly why nobody wants to see them in a seven-game series.
Celtics steady at the top while the East keeps swinging
On the other side of the bracket, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics continue to sit on top of the Eastern Conference, quietly stacking wins while the chaos burns below them. Tatum put together another smooth scoring night, mixing step-back threes with strong drives and late-clock shotmaking. His Player Stats line was balanced: points, boards and playmaking all clicking without him needing to play hero ball on every trip.
Boston’s depth kept the engine humming. Jrue Holiday guarded full court, Jaylen Brown punished mismatches, and the Celtics moved the ball side-to-side until the defense cracked. It was the kind of businesslike win that does not get the same highlight buzz as a Curry flurry or a Giannis rim assault, but it matters for the long haul: banking wins now keeps them in control of home-court advantage when the real Playoff Picture crystallizes.
The teams chasing them in the East feel a step behind but still dangerous. Giannis Antetokounmpo’s Bucks put together a statement W behind his relentless downhill attacking. He piled up free throws, found shooters when the help came, and once again reminded everyone that there is no real blueprint for stopping him, only ways to survive him.
Curry from deep, Jokic in cruise control
Out West, Stephen Curry did what Stephen Curry does: he caught fire from downtown and completely flipped the rhythm of his game. One minute the Warriors were grinding for good looks, the next minute he hit two logo-range threes, the crowd exploded, and the opposing coach burned a timeout just to stop the bleeding.
Even with Curry torching nets, the Warriors still sit in that uncomfortable middle pack. Their margin for error is slim, and any cold shooting night can send them tumbling down a couple of spots in the NBA Standings. That said, no team wants to draw Curry in a Play-In or first-round matchup. One hot week and he can wreck an entire bracket.
Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, continues to make absurd triple-double level production look like routine office work. His latest box score was pure Jokic: high-teens to 20-plus rebounds, double-digit assists, and efficient scoring built on touch shots, pick-and-pop threes, and bully-ball in the post. Denver’s offense flows through him like a point center, and every cutter, shooter and role player eats when he is in full command.
The Nuggets’ win keeps them squarely in the top tier of the Western Conference, lurking just behind the very top seed and ready to surge with one clean winning streak. With Jokic in this kind of form, Denver’s coaching staff sounded extremely confident postgame, emphasizing that their focus is less about seeding and more about peaking in April and May.
How the NBA Standings look at the top
The nightly churn of results keeps reshuffling the board, but the current picture is starting to harden at the top in both conferences. Here is how the upper tier looks right now, based on the latest official numbers across NBA.com and ESPN:
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Celtics | Leading | East |
| 2 | Bucks | Chasing | Close |
| 3 | 76ers | In | Mix |
| 4 | Knicks | Climbing | Fast |
| 5 | Heat | Dangerous | Bubble |
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nuggets | Top | Tier |
| 2 | Timberwolves | Right | There |
| 3 | Thunder | Surging | Young |
| 4 | Clippers | Loaded | Healthy |
| 5 | Lakers | Climbing | Dangerous |
This snapshot tells the story: in the East, Boston and Milwaukee are still the pace-setters while New York and Miami look like those annoying playoff matchups no contender wants. In the West, it is a logjam of heavyweights and upstarts, with Denver, Minnesota and Oklahoma City all jostling for a shot at the number one seed and the Lakers and Clippers shaping up as the nightmare lower seeds.
Playoff Picture: who is safe, who is on the bubble
At the moment, the Celtics, Bucks and Nuggets feel as close to "safe" as it gets. Their cushion in the loss column, combined with superstar-level production, gives them room to navigate short slumps or minor injuries without tumbling down the board.
The more fragile ground sits around the Play-In lines. In the West, the difference between the sixth seed and eleventh is basically one bad road trip. The Lakers, Warriors and a cluster of young teams are all fighting to stay above that cut. One three-game losing streak puts you in single-elimination territory, and nobody wants their season hinging on a random Tuesday in the Play-In.
In the East, the middle pack is volatile. The Knicks are charging, the Heat are hanging around despite injuries, and the Sixers are leaning heavily on their MVP-caliber star to stay in the top half of the bracket. Every head-to-head matchup down this stretch has two-layer importance: it swings the standings and also settles potential tiebreakers that will matter in April.
MVP Race: Jokic, Giannis, Tatum and the chasing pack
The MVP Race feels like a rotating spotlight between Jokic, Giannis and Tatum, with a handful of superstars lurking just outside the top tier. Jokic’s triple-double pace remains absurd. Game after game, he posts lines that read like a video-game sim: 30-plus points on elite efficiency, double-digit rebounds and assists, and total control of the game tempo.
Giannis counters with sheer physical dominance. His Player Stats line may not always have the same assist numbers as Jokic, but the impact is undeniable: 30-plus points, double-digit rebounds, and nonstop rim pressure that bends defenses out of shape. Add in an improved passing read out of double-teams, and the Bucks offense looks its best when he is in full attack mode.
Tatum brings a different kind of MVP profile: two-way stability on the best or second-best record in the entire league. His scoring volume, three-point shooting and improved playmaking for teammates combine with solid defense on wings and bigs. He rarely has the wild 50-point explosion anymore, but he lives in that 27–32 points per night band, and that consistency matters for voters.
LeBron and Curry are hanging just outside the very top tier, more in the "if their team rips off a massive winning streak, you have to bring them back into the conversation" zone. Their individual Game Highlights remain spectacular: logo threes, clutch drives, impossible fadeaways and vintage crunchtime sequences that freeze the timeline.
Injuries, trades and the human cost of the grind
No conversation about the current NBA Standings is complete without acknowledging the injury report. Several teams are navigating extended absences to key starters, forcing role players into bigger roles and reshaping rotations on the fly. Every night, a coach somewhere in the league is talking about "next man up" while quietly hoping medical updates start trending in the right direction.
Trade chatter is also picking up, with front offices staring at the standings and trying to decide if they are buyers, sellers, or content to ride it out. A contending team might be one reliable 3-and-D wing away from solidifying its Playoff Picture. A struggling group might decide to flip a veteran for picks and reset the timeline. Players know this too; you can feel the tension in certain arenas, where a bad week could mean new zip codes for half the locker room.
Coaches have been candid in recent days about managing minutes, juggling back-to-backs and keeping stars fresh for April. The quote that has echoed across multiple locker rooms: "The games matter now, but we cannot win in March what we could lose by overplaying guys in January." It is an impossible balance, and the standings pressure only turns the dial higher.
Must-watch games and what comes next
The next few days are loaded with matchups that feel like mini-playoff series. The Celtics have tests coming against physical, defense-first opponents that will challenge their composure. The Bucks face a run of games against fellow top-six teams that could swing seeding. Out West, Denver, the Lakers and the Warriors are set to collide with other conference rivals in contests that double as tiebreaker battles.
For fans tracking the NBA Standings, these upcoming duels are must-watch. Every made corner three, every late-game turnover, every coach’s challenge carries extra weight now. The MVP Race can swing on a handful of national TV showcases, and one viral Game Highlight can change the narrative of an entire week.
If the trend of the last 48 hours holds, expect more thrillers, more heartbreakers, and more ridiculous stat lines from the league’s brightest stars. Stay locked in, keep an eye on the live scores, and do not blink – because the next big twist in this playoff race might already be loading.
