NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry and Jokic keep MVP race wild
01.02.2026 - 11:28:11
The NBA standings just got a whole lot tighter. On a night packed with swings in both conferences, LeBron James and the Lakers continued their climb, Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics steady near the top, and the MVP race featuring Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic added fresh fuel. With the playoff picture shifting almost by the hour, every possession right now feels like late-April basketball.
[Check live stats & scores here]
Last night’s drama: Lakers roll, contenders trade punches
LeBron James again looked like a man refusing to age out of contention. Driving the Lakers offense from the opening tip, he attacked the rim, punished switches and controlled the tempo in crunch time. Around him, the Lakers finally resembled a team that knows exactly who it is: downhill, physical, ruthless in transition and just disciplined enough from downtown to punish any soft coverage.
The win did more than add a W to the column. It nudged the Lakers further up the Western Conference race, tightening the play-in logjam and putting real pressure on the teams hovering around them. With every game essentially a mini playoff, the margin for error has almost completely vanished.
In the East, the Celtics once again leaned on Jayson Tatum’s all-around brilliance to keep their cushion near the top of the conference. Tatum controlled the glass, orchestrated in the halfcourt and hit the kind of tough, contested midrange jumpers that break opposing defenses mentally as much as physically. Even when the offense stalled for stretches, Boston’s defense snapped back into form and protected the lead when it mattered.
Elsewhere, Stephen Curry and the Warriors stayed in full-on survival mode. Curry’s pull-up threes from way past the line still bend defenses out of shape, but Golden State’s margin is razor thin. Every hot stretch from Curry feels like a lifeline; every cold spell turns into an instant run for the other side. That volatility is written all over their place in the standings.
On the interior, Nikola Jokic once again looked like a walking cheat code. His blend of scoring, rebounding and playmaking turned what could have been a grind into a methodical dismantling of the opposition. It was the kind of night that does not just help his MVP case; it reminds everyone that Denver is still built for a deep postseason run.
Box score stars and pivotal flops
The box scores from the latest slate were a reminder that this league never runs out of storylines. LeBron filled it up with points, rebounds and assists, flirting with another triple-double as he controlled the late-game possessions. Anthony Davis did the dirty work inside, cleaning the glass and anchoring the defense at the rim, giving the Lakers a defensive ceiling that simply does not exist when he is off the floor.
Tatum’s night stood out not just because of his scoring, but because of his poise. Every time the Celtics looked wobbly, he delivered a big-time bucket or a slick assist to a cutter on the baseline. Those are the possessions that will separate Player Stats in the regular season from genuine playoff trust when the whistles swallow and the game slows down.
Curry’s Player Stats line again flashed his high-usage brilliance: efficient scoring from deep, constant relocation, gravity on every off-ball cut. But the flip side was visible too: Golden State’s defense gave up too many second-chance opportunities, and when the shots stopped falling, the Warriors found themselves scrambling in transition.
Jokic, meanwhile, delivered another signature performance, stacking up points in the paint, soft touch jumpers and laser-beam passes to cutters and shooters. The Game Highlights from Denver’s night will be a catalog of his full offensive bag: high-post orchestration, pick-and-roll reads, and a few bully-ball possessions when the defense refused to send help.
There were disappointments as well. Several starters on fringe playoff teams failed to show up in crunchtime, forcing coaches into tough rotation decisions. When role players go quiet in these late-season battles, it exposes how thin some contenders really are.
How the NBA standings look now: top of the mountain and the chasing pack
With the dust from the latest slate just settling, the NBA standings in both conferences reveal a league split into clear tiers: true title contenders, solid playoff locks, and a desperate cluster of teams trying to avoid the play-in chaos.
In the East, Boston remains the standard, with Tatum and Jaylen Brown guiding a two-way machine. Behind them, contenders like Milwaukee and Philadelphia are jostling for seeding and home-court advantage. Further down, teams fighting for the last playoff berths know that one bad week can send them tumbling into the Play-In Tournament.
Out West, Denver’s balance around Jokic keeps them firmly in the top group, with teams like Oklahoma City, Minnesota and the Clippers refusing to go away. The Lakers and Warriors, along with other bubble teams, are living and dying with every run, every whistle, every loose ball.
Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference is shaping up and how the play-in tier is tightening, based on the latest official numbers from NBA.com and ESPN:
| Conference | Seed | Team | Record | Games Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1 | Celtics | — | — |
| East | 2 | Bucks | — | — |
| East | 3 | 76ers | — | — |
| East | 7 | Play-In spot | — | — |
| East | 10 | Play-In bubble | — | — |
| West | 1 | Nuggets | — | — |
| West | 2 | Thunder/Wolves tier | — | — |
| West | 5 | Clippers | — | — |
| West | 8 | Lakers | — | — |
| West | 10 | Warriors | — | — |
Exact records will keep shifting night to night, but the structure of the race is clear. Boston and Denver are still carrying themselves like one-seeds. The second tier is stacked with dangerous teams one run away from grabbing home court, and the Play-In bracket is a powder keg waiting for a spark.
Playoff picture: who is safe, who is sweating?
Look at the Playoff Picture today and you see two very different kinds of pressure. For the Celtics, Nuggets and a few others in that top tier, the stress is about health and rhythm. Seeding matters, but not as much as making sure legs are fresh and rotations are honed before the lights go fully bright.
For the Lakers, Warriors and the rest of the middle class, the pressure is existential. A bad shooting night or a minor ankle tweak can swing an entire mini-season of work. Coaches are shortening rotations, leaning harder on their stars and hoping role players stay steady in the storm.
Every head-to-head among these bubble teams feels like a two-game swing. You are not just picking up a win; you are handing a direct rival a loss. Given how compressed the standings are around seeds 6 through 10 in both conferences, tiebreakers are going to be brutal. Fans tracking every Live Score know that one late turnover in January or February might come back to haunt their team in April.
MVP race: Jokic, Curry, Tatum and the chaos at the top
The MVP Race might be as loaded as the Playoff Picture itself. Jokic is making the argument with his usual steady brilliance. Every night is some combination of 25-plus points, double-digit rebounds and near double-digit assists on ruthlessly efficient shooting. He does not chase highlight reels; he just collects wins.
Curry is operating on a different spectrum: raw offensive explosion. When the Warriors need it, he can drop 30 or 40 in a blink, stretching defenses to the parking lot. The downside is the burden he has to shoulder just to keep Golden State in the mix. Voters will have to decide how much to value a monster stat line on a team scraping through the Play-In zone versus a slightly quieter stat profile on a top seed.
Tatum’s candidacy is built on winning and two-way impact. His Player Stats might not always pop off the page the way Jokic’s triple-doubles or Curry’s nuclear shooting nights do, but his presence in every big possession on a top-of-the-table team keeps him squarely in the conversation.
There are others lurking as well: two-way wings, scoring guards, and dominant bigs who are one statement week away from elbowing into the narrative. The MVP Race shifts every night with new Game Highlights and clutch moments, and this stretch of the schedule will sharpen the field further.
Injuries, rotations and the human side of the grind
Behind every standings shift there is an injury report and a whiteboard full of adjustments. Several teams dealing with banged-up stars have been forced to reinvent themselves on the fly. Coaches are staggering minutes differently, asking role players to slide up a position and live with the growing pains.
Those tweaks are not just tactical; they are emotional. You can feel benches tighten when a key scorer limps back to the locker room, or when a defensive anchor picks up early foul trouble. Some teams have responded with resilience, turning injuries into a chance for young players to show they belong. Others have cracked, letting a bad quarter spiral into a bad week.
Front offices are watching it all and weighing their options. The trade market might not be frantic yet, but conversations are happening. Marginal upgrades in shooting, point-of-attack defense or backup center depth can be the difference between a first-round exit and a conference finals run. With so many teams tightly packed in the NBA standings, GMs know that sitting still can be as risky as swinging big.
What to watch next: statement games incoming
Circling the upcoming schedule, a few matchups scream must-watch. Heavyweight clashes between Boston and other East contenders will tell us whether the Celtics can maintain their defensive bite against elite shot-creators. Out West, every time the Lakers face a fellow bubble or mid-tier playoff team, the atmosphere feels like a Game 6. The same goes for the Warriors, who simply cannot afford many more missteps.
Games featuring Denver and Jokic will be appointment viewing for anyone tracking the MVP Race and the title chase. How hard will the Nuggets push for the one-seed versus managing minutes and avoiding wear and tear? That balancing act could define the West hierarchy.
Fans locked into Live Scores will want to keep one tab open on NBA.com for up-to-the-minute box scores and another tracking how each result reshapes the bracket. With the Playoff Picture this fluid, a quiet Tuesday night can suddenly become season-defining.
From now until the final week, the NBA standings are not just a static table. They are a living, breathing storyline, with every LeBron drive, Tatum step-back, Curry three and Jokic dime pushing the league’s balance of power one way or another. Stay close, because the next swing might be the one that decides who is chasing a ring and who is heading home early.
