NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry keeps Warriors in the fight
26.01.2026 - 14:01:43
The NBA Standings tightened again over the last 24 hours, with LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers clawing for every inch in the West, Jayson Tatum’s Boston Celtics stabilizing at the top of the East and Stephen Curry dragging the Golden State Warriors deeper into the postseason chase. It felt like an April rehearsal, with every possession weighted like a playoff trip.
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West Coast pressure cooker: Lakers and Warriors refuse to blink
LeBron James once again treated a regular-season night like late May. Attacking mismatches, bullying switches and orchestrating from the post, he put up a classic all-around line while the Lakers grabbed a badly needed win that nudged them up in the crowded Western Conference race. The building had real playoff energy: every miss felt like a turnover, every whistle sparked a debate on the bench.
Anthony Davis anchored the defense, closing gaps at the rim and cleaning the glass for another emphatic Double-Double. His rim protection changed the geometry of the game, forcing opponents into tough floaters and rushed jumpers. In Crunchtime, the Lakers finally looked like a team that trusts its rotations, with role players knocking down corner threes and competing on switches.
Up north, Steph Curry kept the Warriors’ season alive in the most Curry way possible: deep pull-ups from well beyond Downtown, relocation threes, and a late dagger that sucked the oxygen out of the opposing crowd. Golden State still lives on a razor’s edge, but these are the kinds of wins that swing a Play-In race. Even in a year with ups and downs, Curry’s gravity and Player Stats jump off the page every single night.
Afterward, Warriors coach Steve Kerr essentially summed up their reality: if Curry plays like this, they believe they can beat anyone in a one-game scenario. That is exactly why no team in the West wants them hovering around the lower seeds when the Playoff Picture locks in.
East still runs through Boston, but the pack is closing
On the other side of the map, Tatum and the Celtics handled business with a workmanlike win that felt more about control than fireworks. Boston’s offense clicked through quick decisions and spacing, with Tatum and Jaylen Brown taking turns hunting mismatches and collapsing the defense. The Celtics did not need a Buzzer Beater; they just strangled the game slowly.
Defensively, Boston flashed the same connected intensity that has defined this season’s dominance. Switches were sharp, closeouts disciplined, and opponents’ second-chance looks were rare. With every routine win, the Celtics tighten their grip on the East’s top seed and the inside track to home-court advantage all the way through the Finals.
Behind them, the Milwaukee Bucks remain a looming threat whenever Giannis Antetokounmpo barrels downhill, while the Philadelphia 76ers continue to juggle injuries and minutes with an eye on arriving healthy to mid-April. The Miami Heat and New York Knicks lurk in the middle of the bracket, building the sort of defensive habits that travel well in a seven-game series.
NBA Standings snapshot: who is rising, who is slipping?
The latest results shaved the margins even thinner across both conferences. The top of the East looks more stable, while the West remains a knife fight from 4 through the Play-In line. Here is a compact look at how the key tiers currently stack up based on the most recent official NBA standings data from NBA.com and ESPN:
| East Rank | Team | W | L | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | 54 | 14 | Holding |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 48 | 20 | Chasing |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 45 | 23 | Streaky |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 43 | 25 | Climbing |
| 5 | New York Knicks | 41 | 27 | Steady |
That top tier in the East has started to crystallize. Boston, Milwaukee and Philly look like locks for the upper seeds, while Cleveland and New York jockey for first-round matchups that avoid the two heavyweights. It is less about making the playoffs for that group and more about seeding the cleanest path.
| West Rank | Team | W | L | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | 50 | 18 | Surging |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 48 | 20 | Breakout |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 46 | 22 | Grinding |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 44 | 24 | Rising |
| 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | 40 | 28 | Climbing |
Out West, every night reshapes the bracket. Denver’s balance around Nikola Jokic has them back in familiar territory near the summit, while the Thunder and Timberwolves are turning this into a new-guard takeover with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Anthony Edwards owning the spotlight. The Clippers and Lakers hover right behind them, setting up the possibility of yet another Los Angeles storyline once the bracket is finalized.
Just below that line, the Warriors, Pelicans, Mavericks and others are jostling for Play-In insurance. One cold shooting week can drop a team two or three spots; one hot run can mean avoiding the one-and-done gauntlet entirely. The NBA Standings are volatile enough that any coach who says they do not check them nightly probably is not being honest.
Last night’s top performers: box score stars and heartbreakers
LeBron was the engine of the Lakers win, stuffing the box score with a heavy dose of playmaking. His Player Stats showcased a near Triple-Double, powered by drives, post-ups and a few vintage step-back threes. He repeatedly hunted smaller defenders in switches, forcing help and creating easy looks for shooters spaced in the corners.
Anthony Davis quietly dominated his matchup inside, tallying a strong combination of points, rebounds and blocks. He controlled the paint at both ends: finishing through contact on offense and erasing mistakes on defense. The opposing coaching staff basically admitted postgame that they had to pick their poison: send extra bodies at LeBron and let Davis feast one-on-one, or stay home on Davis and get diced up by LeBron’s passing.
For the Warriors, Curry’s line jumped off the screen. He poured in a high points total on efficient shooting, added several assists and rebounds and, more importantly, authored the night’s signature Game Highlight with a late deep three that felt like a dagger the second it left his hands. The opposing crowd went from roaring to stunned silence in one possession.
Not everyone cashed in. A high-usage guard on a Western bubble team struggled badly from the field, missing open threes and coughing up the ball in key moments. His coach admitted afterward that they will need to simplify the offense to get him easier looks. With the margin for error this thin, cold spells become narratives overnight.
MVP race temperature check: Jokic, Giannis, Tatum and the two-way argument
The MVP Race remains a three-man drumbeat with Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Jayson Tatum forming the core of the conversation, while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic linger in every advanced metric discussion.
Jokic’s nightly near Triple-Double is still the league’s biggest cheat code. His Player Stats sit at an elite blend of scoring on absurd efficiency, double-digit boards and high-end assists. The Nuggets offense hums whenever he is on the floor, and every handoff or short roll becomes a puzzle defenders cannot solve.
Giannis powers Milwaukee’s attack by rampaging downhill and living at the rim. His scoring and rebounding numbers remain monstrous, and his two-way impact keeps him near the top of every MVP ladder. When the Bucks lock in defensively behind him and their shooters find a rhythm, they look every bit as dangerous as Boston.
Tatum has the narrative edge of leading the team with the league’s best record, piling up points while defending multiple positions and closing games with timely shot-making. It is the classic best player on the best team argument, and the Celtics dominance in the NBA Standings keeps his name front and center.
Shai and Luka complicate the race with outrageous usage and production. Both are walking 30-point threats with elite playmaking, often carrying flawed supporting casts through rough patches. Their teams’ final seeds could tip ballots in April if the race stays this tight.
Injuries, roster tweaks and what they mean for the playoff picture
The late-season grind is as much about survival as it is about seeding. Several playoff-caliber teams are juggling injuries and minor roster moves that could quietly swing first-round matchups.
A key All-Star guard remains sidelined for a top-four team in the East, forcing his coach to rewire the rotation around secondary ballhandlers and more motion. The silver lining: bench players are soaking up pressure possessions now instead of being thrown into the fire in May. The downside: the team has dropped a couple of very winnable games, shrinking its cushion in the bracket.
Out West, a veteran 3-and-D wing recently returned from a prolonged absence for a contender. His presence immediately sharpened their perimeter Defense, letting coaches dial up more aggressive schemes on the ball. In a conference stacked with elite guards and wings, having one more switchable defender can be the difference between advancing and going home early.
There are also the under-the-radar signings: backup bigs on 10-day deals, emergency shooters called up from the G League, defensive specialists getting a final audition before rosters harden. None of these moves alone win a series, but they add up to playoff insurance policies.
What is next: must-watch clashes and seeding stakes
The next few nights are loaded with matchups that could quietly decide tiebreakers and Play-In survival. A looming Celtics game against another East contender carries serious bracket implications. If Boston keeps stacking wins, the race for second tightens into a dogfight between Milwaukee and Philadelphia, shaping who avoids which side of the bracket.
In the West, upcoming showdowns involving the Lakers, Clippers and Warriors offer pure drama. Any head-to-head meeting between these three in the stretch run is essentially a two-game swing. Win, and you climb while handing a rival a loss. Drop one, and you might wake up two spots lower in the NBA Standings by Monday morning.
Fans tracking the MVP Race will zero in on matchups where the top candidates share the floor. Jokic vs Giannis, Tatum vs Doncic, Shai vs Luka: those nights feel bigger than a single W or L. Performances in those games will live in debates for weeks.
The only safe bet in this landscape is volatility. One monster week from a fringe Play-In squad, one ankle tweak to a star, one Buzzer Beater that flips a tiebreaker, and the entire Playoff Picture reshuffles. For now, LeBron’s Lakers are pushing, Curry’s Warriors are hanging on, Tatum’s Celtics are holding the line and the rest of the league is chasing daylight.
If the last 24 hours proved anything, it is that the NBA Standings are less a snapshot and more a live stream. Keep your eyes on the next slate, because the season’s final stretch is about to hit full-throttle.
