NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry fights to keep Warriors alive
07.02.2026 - 17:15:36
The NBA Standings tightened again last night as LeBron James pushed the Los Angeles Lakers closer to the Playoff Picture, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics kept their grip on the top of the East, and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors continued to walk a razor-thin line between late surge and early vacation. It felt less like a regular-season slate and more like a spring preview of playoff chaos.
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With the NBA Standings squeezing both conferences, every possession down the stretch suddenly carries weight. Coaches are shortening rotations, stars are logging playoff-level minutes, and fans are refreshing live scores like it is already late April. Even when the box scores are still updating, the shape of this race is unmistakable: no one is safe, and no lead in the standings feels secure.
Lakers lean on LeBron, Celtics stay steady, Warriors fight for air
LeBron James continues to treat the calendar like it does not apply to him. Night after night he is stacking 30-point lines, orchestrating the Lakers offense, and bullying smaller defenders in the post when the game slows down. The Lakers have turned a midseason wobble into a legitimate push toward safer playoff territory, and the vibe around the team right now is clear: no one wants to see LeBron in a 7-game series.
What jumps off the game tape is how much more decisive the Lakers look late in games. LeBron is hunting mismatches, Anthony Davis is anchoring the paint with relentless rim protection, and role players are finally hitting the open threes those two stars generate. It is not always pretty, but it is efficient, and that is translating directly into upward movement in the Western Conference race.
On the other side of the bracket, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics are doing something equally important but much less dramatic: they are handling business. They have not needed nightly hero-ball to maintain their spot near the top of the East. Instead, it is been balanced scoring, top-tier team defense, and the kind of composure that shows up when the opponent makes a third-quarter run and Boston simply does not blink.
Tatum’s scoring remains the heartbeat, but the story of Boston’s season is depth. Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis keep defenses stretched, and the Celtics can toggle between big and small lineups without losing their identity. That versatility is why they have not slipped even as other contenders ride win streaks and losing skids.
For Stephen Curry and the Warriors, the tone is different: every game feels like an audition for postseason survival. Curry is still raining shots from downtown and putting up elite Player Stats, but the margin of error has evaporated. Turnovers, cold shooting stretches from the supporting cast, or a few broken defensive rotations can swing a game and with it their place in the NBA Standings.
Postgame, Warriors voices keep hammering the same themes: attention to detail, defense at the point of attack, and not wasting another masterpiece from Curry. It is clear the franchise knows it is straddling the line between one last run with this core and the beginning of a true retool.
How the top of the NBA Standings look right now
Zooming out from the nightly drama, the current NBA Standings show a league split between a handful of true juggernauts and a massive middle class where two bad weeks can send you tumbling toward the Play-In. Here is a compact look at some of the key teams shaping the playoff race in both conferences.
| Seed | Team | Conf | W | L | Games Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | East | — | — | 0.0 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | East | — | — | — |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | East | — | — | — |
| 4 | New York Knicks | East | — | — | — |
| 5 | Miami Heat | East | — | — | — |
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | West | — | — | 0.0 |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | West | — | — | — |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | West | — | — | — |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | West | — | — | — |
| 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | West | — | — | — |
Note: Exact win-loss records are updating in real time. For official numbers, always cross-check on the league’s site at NBA.com or major partners like ESPN and CBS Sports, especially on a busy night when several games go final within minutes of each other.
The big-picture takeaway: Boston’s cushion atop the East and Denver’s edge in the West mask how volatile the rest of the board is. From seeds four through ten in both conferences, one hot or cold week flips home-court advantage, Play-In positioning, and in some cases, whether a franchise starts eyeing the lottery instead of the postseason.
Playoff Picture: contenders, climbers and bubble teams
As of today, the Playoff Picture splits into three clear tiers. First, the heavyweights: Boston, Denver and a handful of teams that have spent most of the season near the top of their conferences. These squads are almost locked into postseason spots and are fighting more for seeding and home court than for entry itself.
Second, the climbers like the Lakers, Knicks and Heat, who are chasing the safety of a top-six finish. These teams know the Play-In is a coin flip, and they are playing with an urgency that shows in every timeout and late-game substitution. There is very little load management right now for these groups, and that is bleeding directly into their late-season push.
Third, the bubble teams: think of squads in that 7-to-11 range, including the Warriors and several others toggling between a night where they look like a tough out and a night where they look like they are already mentally in the draft room. These are the franchises refreshing the NBA Standings in the locker room because every outside win or loss changes the math.
Coaches in that mix have started talking openly about scoreboard watching. When a rival drops a game on the road, the postgame sound bites shift from frustration to opportunity. When they steal an upset against a higher seed, you can hear the belief: “We belong in this bracket.”
MVP Race: Jokic, Doncic, Giannis and the superstar logjam
The MVP Race this season has become a weekly referendum on what fans value most: raw numbers, team success, or the sheer burden a star carries night after night. Nikola Jokic remains a central figure in that discussion, quietly logging monster lines that would be career-high level for most big men while making it look like a layup drill.
Even on nights when his scoring dips, Jokic dominates the box score with double-digit rebounds and high-end assist totals. He has turned the two-man game with his guards into a nightly clinic, creating backdoor cuts and open threes with the kind of anticipation that only shows up in the league’s smartest players.
Luka Doncic is right there with him, putting up videogame Player Stats and living in the 30-plus points range with high assist counts. The Mavs have asked him to do everything: heavy on-ball creation, late-clock bailout shots, and controlling tempo against elite defenses. When he is in attack mode, it warps the geometry of the floor and pulls help defenders so far out of position that his teammates are eating off wide-open corner looks.
Giannis Antetokounmpo continues to bulldoze his way into the conversation as well, dragging the Bucks into win-after-win on the back of relentless rim pressure. His blend of scoring and rebounding is still one of the most devastating nightly forces in the league. If Milwaukee stabilizes and stacks wins, expect his MVP case to ramp up fast.
LeBron does not have the same box score volume as the younger candidates across the full season, but it is impossible to talk about the MVP Race without acknowledging the way he flips the energy and ceiling of the Lakers whenever games matter most. If the Lakers climb significantly higher in the standings down the stretch, his late run will at least spark debates.
Top performers and breakthrough nights
The last couple of nights delivered the usual stack of monster performances that have become normal around the league. High-usage guards are putting up near triple-doubles, versatile forwards are flashing two-way dominance, and role players keep sneaking in with career-high scoring bursts when defenses sell out to stop the stars.
It is not simply about gaudy scoring numbers, though. Coaches around the league have been quick to highlight players who shape wins without chasing shots: a wing checking the opponent’s top scorer, a backup big controlling the glass, or a veteran guard organizing possessions in the final two minutes. Those details define winning in April, and you can feel the playoff atmosphere starting to seep in when rotations tighten and every hustle play gets a bench standing ovation.
At the same time, there are a few high-profile names who are clearly fighting it right now. Shooting slumps, nagging injuries and defensive lapses have some stars looking a step slow. You can see it in the body language after missed open threes and the extra beats it takes to get back in transition. For several teams hovering around the Play-In, a single slumping starter has become the difference between a convincing win and another late-game collapse.
Injuries, roster tweaks and the cost of bad timing
Injuries have, as always, become the shadow storyline underneath the NBA Standings. A contender losing a starting guard for a week can mean dropping two straight on the road and suddenly seeing its seed slide. A bubble team losing its defensive anchor might find its entire scheme shredded and its Playoff Picture odds melting away.
Front offices and coaching staffs are responding with surgical adjustments: more small-ball looks, backup point guards pushed into 30-minute roles, and two-way contract guys suddenly finding themselves in real rotation minutes. When it works, it feels like genius. When it does not, the postgame tone shifts to “We just did not execute” even when everyone knows the talent drop-off was glaring.
The trade market buzz has cooled compared to the peak rumor days, but the aftershocks from earlier moves are still rippling through the standings. Teams that added shooting have seen their spacing open up, while squads that sacrificed depth for star power are living on the edge any time foul trouble hits.
Must-watch games ahead and what to track
The next few days will offer a steady stream of must-watch matchups that could swing the Playoff Picture in both conferences. Any clash between the Celtics and fellow East contenders, or between the Nuggets and their Western challengers, has direct seeding implications. Games featuring the Lakers, Warriors or other bubble teams carry an almost elimination-game feel even if the math does not say “win or go home” just yet.
Fans should keep an eye on back-to-backs for aging cores and on potential rest nights that could tilt outcomes. If a star like LeBron, Curry or Giannis sits, that is often the opening an underdog needs to steal a win and climb a rung in the NBA Standings.
From an analytical angle, watch the net ratings, clutch-time performance and injury reports more than just the final scores. Teams that consistently win the final five minutes, even against weaker opponents, tend to translate that poise when the lights get brighter. Squads that can not get a stop when it matters, no matter how explosive their offense looks on the highlight reels, usually hit a hard ceiling when defenses lock in.
Every night from here on out is a data point and a gut check. The box scores tell one story, but the way stars carry themselves, the body language of benches, and the adjustments from coaches all hint at who is actually built to survive a seven-game series.
For now, the verdict is simple: the NBA Standings are still fluid, the MVP Race is still crowded, and the line between contender and pretender is thinner than ever. Clear your evenings, keep an eye on those live scores, and be ready for a few more late-season shockwaves before the bracket finally locks in.
