NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics steady as Curry and Luka light up the night
01.02.2026 - 19:28:17
The NBA standings tightened again after a wild night across the league, with LeBron James pushing the Los Angeles Lakers closer to the top tier in the West, Jayson Tatum keeping the Boston Celtics steady in the East, and Stephen Curry plus Luka Doncic turning regular-season games into instant classics. Every possession now feels like April, and the playoff picture keeps shifting with every final buzzer.
[Check live stats & scores here]
LeBron’s late-game control and a Lakers statement
The Lakers did not just win; they flexed. LeBron James orchestrated a controlled second-half surge, carving up the defense out of high pick-and-rolls and punishing switches in the post. He piled up points, rebounds, and assists in classic all-around fashion, turning what looked like a trap game into a controlled road win.
In crunchtime, the Lakers leaned into size and physicality. Anthony Davis anchored the defense with strong rim protection and timely help rotations, forcing tough midrange looks instead of clean drives. On the other end, LeBron slowed the pace, hunted mismatches, and kept the offense organized, repeatedly finding shooters in the corners and Davis rolling down the lane. It felt closer to a playoff script than a random regular-season night.
Afterward, the Lakers locker room sounded like a group that knows the urgency of the moment. The coaching staff emphasized that the margin for error in the Western Conference is microscopic – one bad week and you are out of the top six, one hot stretch and you are suddenly talking home-court advantage. That urgency was all over LeBron’s body language: less showmanship, more surgical decision-making.
Celtics keep grinding, Tatum stays in MVP rhythm
While the Lakers are climbing, the Celtics continue to operate from a position of strength near the top of the Eastern Conference. Jayson Tatum once again delivered a ruthlessly efficient scoring night, controlling the tempo and getting to his spots – step-back threes from downtown, strong drives through contact, and midrange pull-ups when the defense overplayed the arc.
Boston’s win was not a highlight-package thriller, but it was the kind of methodical dominance that preserves their place near the top of the NBA standings. The ball moved, the defense switched and scrammed effectively, and Tatum plus Jaylen Brown took turns punishing single coverage. It had that familiar TD Garden feel: the opponent hangs around for three quarters, then the Celtics flip a defensive switch and the game quietly slips out of reach.
One assistant coach put it plainly afterward: as long as Tatum and Brown stay healthy and the defense stays top-tier, the Celtics expect to sit no worse than the top two in the East. Nights like this one simply reinforce that identity.
Curry from deep, Luka the puppeteer: pure star power
Stephen Curry was back in full flamethrower mode. He danced off ball screens, curled to the wing, and drilled threes from several feet behind the line, warping the opposing defense until help rotations looked totally scrambled. Every time he let it fly from downtown, the building held its breath. When Curry gets on one of these heaters, it changes the entire math of the game – a ten-point deficit can vanish in barely two minutes.
In another building, Luka Doncic responded with his own brand of brilliance. While Curry specializes in chaos, Luka specializes in control. He picked apart coverages with live-dribble passes, posted smaller defenders on the block, and hit step-back threes when the defense sagged. It was a classic Luka line: big-time points on strong shooting splits, double-digit assists, and that feeling that he has every defender on a string.
Both stars left another heavy footprint on the MVP race. Curry’s shot-making keeps Golden State in the mix even when the supporting cast is inconsistent, and Luka’s all-around stat-stuffing has his team firmly in the playoff picture. The box scores tell one story; the eye test tells the rest. Every possession runs through them, and defenses still have no real answer.
How the current NBA standings are shaking out
The impact of these performances is written all over the latest conference tables. With every win and loss, seeding scenarios flip and the line between a comfortable playoff spot and a nerve-wracking Play-In berth gets thinner.
Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference stacks up based on the latest updated standings from league and major media sources:
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | – | – |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | – | – |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | – | – |
| 4 | New York Knicks | – | – |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | – | – |
In the East, Boston continues to set the pace, with Milwaukee and Philadelphia trying to keep pressure on the top seed. The Knicks and Cavaliers hover in that crucial home-court zone, where a short series can swing on one hot shooting night in your own building.
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | – | – |
| 2 | Minnesota Timberwolves | – | – |
| 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | – | – |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | – | – |
| 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | – | – |
Out West, Denver still feels like the measuring stick, but the Timberwolves and Thunder remain glued near the top thanks to elite defense and young legs. The Clippers lurk with veteran star power, and the Lakers keep climbing, aiming to escape the Play-In conversation entirely and lock up a top-six spot.
It is that tight: a mini-slump could drop a team two or three seeds overnight, and a three-game win streak can be the difference between an easy first round or an all-out war just to survive the Play-In.
Playoff picture: who is surging, who is slipping
In the East, the top tier feels somewhat set. Boston, Milwaukee, and Philadelphia project as the three heavyweights, but the next band is where the real jostling happens. The Knicks and Cavaliers are pressing to secure home court, while teams like the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic sit in that dangerous middle, flirting with either comfort or chaos depending on the week.
Further down, the Play-In zone is already a pressure cooker. One night you are chasing sixth, the next you are checking the out-of-town scoreboard just to make sure you are not sliding toward eleventh. Every road back-to-back, every late scratch due to injury, every sluggish quarter matters now.
The West is even more brutal. Denver may headline the conference, but there is a crowded middle where the margin between the fourth seed and the ninth seed can be a single game. Squads like the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks, and Pelicans know they cannot afford to coast. That is why you are seeing playoff-level intensity in late January and early February – coaches are tightening rotations, stars are playing heavier minutes in the fourth quarter, and every slip gets punished in the table.
MVP race: Jokic, Tatum, Luka, and the eternal LeBron question
The MVP race is quietly turning into a heavyweight round-robin. Nikola Jokic keeps stacking absurd stat lines: high-20s in points, double-digit boards, and near double-digit assists on elite efficiency almost every night. His Player Efficiency Rating, on/off swings, and advanced metrics remain off the charts, and Denver’s spot near the top of the West only strengthens his case.
Jayson Tatum is the engine of the best team in the East, checking boxes in both traditional and advanced metrics. He is scoring comfortably in the high 20s per night, flirting with a 50–40–85 shooting profile during this recent stretch, and defending at a level that does not show fully in the box score. Voters will look hard at wins, and Tatum’s Celtics keep delivering them.
Then there is Luka Doncic, putting up video-game numbers that keep his team relevant even on nights when the supporting cast is uneven. Big scoring totals, double-digit assists, strong rebounding from the guard spot – he is basically a walking triple-double threat. His usage rate is sky-high, but so is his impact; when he sits, everything changes.
And somewhere in this conversation, even if more on the fringe, there is still LeBron James. Voters might hesitate to crown him again, but if the Lakers continue to rise in the NBA standings and he maintains near 25–8–8 production on efficient shooting, the narrative will not ignore him. Doing this at his age, in year after year of heavy mileage, remains astonishing.
Injuries, depth charts, and the hidden standings battle
Underneath the headline wins and losses is the grind of rotations, injuries, and role-player development. A few key absences across the league last night forced coaches to reach deeper into the bench. Young wings got surprise minutes, backup bigs were suddenly closing games, and a couple of two-way players found themselves guarding All-Stars in crunchtime.
Those are the margins that can swing a series in April. Depth is not just a buzzword, it is a necessity. The teams near the top – Boston, Denver, Milwaukee – tend to survive rough nights because they can plug in a seventh, eighth, or ninth man without the entire structure collapsing. Those further down the table feel every missed game from a starter like a body blow.
Coaches know it. That is why you are seeing staggered lineups, star duos split across quarters, and more creative playcalling to keep bench-heavy units afloat. As the season grinds on, health and adaptability might decide as much as pure talent.
What is next: must-watch clashes and a volatile weekend
The schedule ahead offers zero breathing room. Marquee matchups between the Lakers and other Western contenders will have direct seeding implications. Boston faces a stretch of tough road games that could either solidify or threaten its cushion atop the East. Golden State, Dallas, and other bubble teams will have to navigate back-to-backs where fatigue is as big an opponent as whoever is lined up across from them.
The must-watch slate over the next few days is loaded with games that carry real weight in the playoff picture. Star guards will go head-to-head, elite wings will trade tough jumpers over outstretched arms, and bigs will battle for every board like it is a Game 7. Expect more crunchtime drama, more box scores stuffed with career nights, and more twists in the race up and down the NBA standings.
For fans, this is the stretch where every night matters. Check the live scores, follow the shifting tables, and lock in on the MVP race as Jokic, Tatum, Luka, Curry, and LeBron keep raising the bar. The sprint to the All-Star break is on, and the separation between contenders and pretenders is shrinking by the day.
