NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry explodes in wild night
06.02.2026 - 10:29:47
The NBA standings got another jolt over the last 24 hours as LeBron James pushed the Lakers through a tense fourth-quarter grind, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics protected their turf at the top of the East, and Stephen Curry turned another ordinary night into a shooting clinic. With every result, the playoff picture bends just a little more, and the margins for error shrink for everyone chasing seeding, home court and, ultimately, a title shot.
[Check live stats & scores here]
Across the league, the combination of statement wins, crunch-time execution and injury news turned an ordinary regular-season slate into something that felt much closer to April. From the top of the NBA standings to the play-in line, every possession is starting to feel like a referendum on who is for real and who is just hanging on.
Game recap and late-night drama
In Los Angeles, LeBron James once again controlled the tempo and the moment. He orchestrated the offense, hunted mismatches, and when the game swung into full crunch-time chaos, he steadied the Lakers with classic downhill drives and kick-outs to shooters spotting up from downtown. It was the kind of performance that does not always scream box-score shock value, but screamed leadership and control over every possession.
Anthony Davis did the dirty work inside, swallowing rebounds on both ends and anchoring the defense on the back line. Time and again, he erased mistakes at the point of attack with help-side blocks and altered shots that do not show up as highlights but absolutely change a game’s math. The result: a win that nudges the Lakers up the Western Conference ladder and keeps them lurking as that team nobody wants to see in a short series.
On the other coast, the Boston Celtics did what top seeds are supposed to do: take care of business. Jayson Tatum poured in efficient buckets from all three levels, mixing step-back threes with bully-ball drives and smart reads out of doubles. Jaylen Brown picked his spots as a secondary scorer, and Boston’s defense once again looked like a playoff prototype, switching, closing out and forcing tough midrange pull-ups all night.
Afterward, Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla essentially said his group is more concerned with habits than headlines, but the truth is the current cushion they hold in the NBA standings matters. It gives them room to manage minutes, withstand the occasional off night, and still project as the East’s team to beat when the real pressure hits.
Then there was Stephen Curry, doing Stephen Curry things. His shot chart looked like a heat map from way beyond the arc, bombing threes from 28, 30, even 32 feet like he was in a shootaround. Defenders trapped, top-locked, chased and shaded, and it simply did not matter. Every time the opponent threatened a run, Curry either cashed in from deep or collapsed the defense off the dribble to set up a drive-and-kick three for a teammate in the corner.
The atmosphere felt like spring basketball: the crowd living on every possession, every whistle, every whistle-swinging call. When Curry drilled a deep dagger in the final minutes, the arena turned electric, and you could almost feel the collective realization that as long as he is cooking like this, Golden State is dangerous regardless of what their exact seed says on paper.
How the NBA standings look at the top
The biggest storyline on the macro level is how compact the top of both conferences has become. One mini-slide or one three-game heater is enough to change everything from home-court advantage to a brutal second-round matchup. Here is a snapshot of how the top of the standings currently stacks up in each conference, through the latest completed games.
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | - | - |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | - | - |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | - | - |
| 4 | New York Knicks | - | - |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | - | - |
Those top five in the East form a tier of legitimate playoff threats, but the separation is thinner than it looks. Boston’s balanced attack and two-way wings give them the most complete profile, while Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard still give Milwaukee the highest offensive ceiling when they are both in rhythm. Philadelphia’s standing is tied directly to Joel Embiid’s health, while the Knicks and Cavs lean on chemistry and defense to punch above their star-power weight.
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | - | - |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | - | - |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | - | - |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | - | - |
| 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | - | - |
Denver still looks like the team carrying the fewest questions, with Nikola Jokic turning every game into a half-court problem no one has fully solved. OKC’s surge is fueled by Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s MVP-level production and a fearless young core. Minnesota’s size and defense suffocate opponents, while the Clippers rely on a healthy Kawhi Leonard and Paul George to take turns closing. The Lakers, thanks to LeBron and Davis, have shifted from early-season inconsistency into something much more dangerous: a group that has learned how to grind out ugly wins.
Just below that top cluster, the play-in zone is chaos. Teams from six through ten are separated by mere games, and every back-to-back swings the narrative from “dark horse” to “disaster.” Coaches are openly talking about scoreboard watching, and the sense around the league is that this year’s play-in could once again produce at least one upset that resets the bracket.
MVP race and player stats: who is owning the moment
The MVP race remains tightly bunched, and last night’s box scores added more fuel to the conversation. While exact nightly lines shift, the trend is clear: the award is living at the intersection of elite production, team success and durability.
Jayson Tatum’s case rides on Boston’s dominance. When the Celtics sit on or near the top of the NBA standings, it shines extra light on his all-around game. He is not just a pure scorer; his playmaking has leveled up, and his defensive engagement has turned him into a true two-way star. On any given night he is capable of a 30-plus point outing on efficient shooting, with solid rebounding and a handful of assists to stabilize Boston’s half-court offense.
LeBron James, at his age, is not supposed to still be in these conversations, but he keeps forcing his way into them with sheer consistency. Night after night he flirts with triple-doubles, picking apart defenses as a passer while still overpowering smaller defenders on switches. The Lakers’ climb in the Western Conference only amplifies how essential he is: their offense looks completely different when he sits.
Stephen Curry remains the NBA’s ultimate offensive gravity well. Even on nights when the raw scoring totals are merely very good instead of outrageous, the way he bends defenses creates an avalanche of secondary stats for his teammates. His Player Stats profile rarely looks empty: threes made, true shooting percentages, assist opportunities, even hockey-assist style passes that never make the traditional box score but break coverages wide open.
Layer in other MVP contenders – the usual mix of Jokic, Giannis, Embiid when healthy, and the surging Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – and you get an award chase that feels less like a two-man race and more like a weekly referendum. One 40-point explosion or one dud in a televised showdown can move perception just enough to swing voter narratives.
Injuries, rotations and the hidden storylines
Injury reports might not be as sexy as game highlights, but they are absolutely reshaping the season. Teams near the top are managing minutes carefully, especially on back-to-backs, trying to preserve legs for May while still fighting for every win in a stacked field.
Several playoff hopefuls are juggling nagging issues for core starters, forcing coaches into creative rotation tweaks. That has opened the door for role players to steal minutes and, sometimes, steal games. When a starter goes down, a young wing or veteran guard gets 8–10 extra minutes, and suddenly you have a wild-card performance that swings a result and nudges the standings.
Coaches across the league are preaching continuity. One Western Conference assistant put it bluntly after a recent tight win: this time of year, every little thing matters. One missed box-out, one lazy closeout, one bad turnover becomes the possession that decides whether you are hosting a Game 1 or fighting for your life in a single-elimination play-in.
Playoff picture and what comes next
Zooming out, the NBA standings do not yet lock in any first-round series, but they are starting to sketch some mouth-watering possibilities. A potential Lakers vs Nuggets rematch, a Celtics vs Knicks slugfest, a Warriors slipping into a lower seed and ambushing a higher-ranked opponent – these are the types of matchups that have coaches quietly rooting for, or against, certain results on off nights.
The play-in picture in both conferences remains a minefield. For fringe teams, every game has started to feel like a must-win, and that urgency is bleeding through in defensive intensity and shorter rotations. Veterans are playing heavier minutes, and you can see it in the physicality at the rim and the way every loose ball suddenly becomes a scrum.
On the flip side, the truly elite squads are starting to test lineups and actions with an eye toward playoff scouting reports. Coaches are dusting off sets they have barely shown all year, trying two-big combinations or five-out groups, and probing where the matchup advantages might be in a seven-game series.
Over the next few days, the schedule offers some must-watch measuring-stick games: contenders facing each other in high-profile national windows, would-be spoilers fighting for their season, and MVP candidates meeting head-to-head. These are the nights that not only move the needle in the standings but also harden reputations heading into the postseason.
For fans, this is the stretch where every refresh of the live scores page feels like breaking news. One upset, one buzzer beater, one breakout performance from a young player who has been simmering all year can tilt the entire bracket. If the last 24 hours were any indication, the race to the playoffs is only going to get wilder from here.
Keep an eye on the NBA standings, track the live scores and Player Stats, and do not blink on the MVP race. The next statement game is always one tip-off away.
