NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge as Tatum, Curry and Jokic tighten MVP race
09.01.2026 - 15:01:20
The NBA standings keep tightening, and last night felt like another mini-playoff slate. Between LeBron James powering the Lakers, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics flexing at the top of the East, and Stephen Curry trading haymakers with another elite backcourt, the league’s playoff picture and MVP race both took a serious jolt.
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West Coast drama: LeBron keeps the Lakers climbing
LeBron James turned another January night into a reminder that the Lakers are not quietly fading into the background. In Los Angeles, the Lakers took care of business at home, riding LeBron’s all-around brilliance and Anthony Davis’s two-way dominance to a crucial win that nudged them upward in the crowded Western Conference NBA standings.
LeBron stuffed the box score with a vintage line, flirting with yet another triple-double while orchestrating the offense in crunchtime. Davis controlled the glass and erased shots at the rim, delivering a classic Double-Double that set the tone defensively. The Lakers’ role players filled in the gaps, spacing the floor and knocking down timely threes from downtown to keep the pressure on.
After the game, head coach Darvin Ham praised his star duo, noting that when LeBron and AD bring this level of focus defensively, “we look like a team nobody wants to see in a seven-game series.” It felt like a playoff atmosphere at Crypto.com Arena, with every run met by a roar and every defensive stop sparking fast-break fireworks.
The win matters because of context: the West is bunched up from seeds 4 through 10, and a two-game skid can send you tumbling toward the Play-In. Instead, the Lakers are trending the other way, quietly stacking Ws and rebuilding some of the swagger that powered last season’s conference finals run.
Celtics’ machine keeps rolling: Tatum puts another stamp on the East
On the other coast, the Boston Celtics reminded everyone why they sit near the top of the NBA standings in the East. Jayson Tatum delivered another smooth scoring night, piling up points at all three levels and looking utterly in control as Boston pulled away late.
Tatum’s Player Stats continue to scream MVP candidate: elite scoring, improved playmaking and enough work on the glass to flirt with Double-Doubles on a regular basis. Jaylen Brown added downhill force, while Jrue Holiday locked up the opposing backcourt and turned defense into easy offense.
A Celtics assistant coach summed it up afterward, saying the group “is starting to feel the rhythm of a real contender,” with everyone knowing their role and trusting the system. It was not a thriller in the final two minutes, but it was the kind of professional, wire-to-wire performance that builds one-seed habits over 82 games.
Steph stays must-see TV: Curry’s fireworks light up the scoreboard
Stephen Curry may not have stolen a win single-handedly, but he certainly stole the show for stretches, launching from deep and catching fire in classic Splash Brother fashion. When Curry gets hot, every possession feels like a mini-drama: the defense stretches out past the logo, screens get higher, and the crowd collectively leans forward.
His stat line popped again, with well over 30 points on efficient shooting, including a barrage from beyond the arc that kept his team in striking distance. Even in a tight loss, Curry’s Game Highlights were everywhere: step-back threes, relocation triples, and those impossible high-arcing floaters over rim protectors.
Golden State’s issue remains on the margins. Turnovers and late-game execution cost them, a theme that has turned several winnable nights into frustrating defeats. Steve Kerr talked postgame about “cleaning up the details,” acknowledging that Curry’s brilliance can only cover so much when the defense leaks at the wrong time and the supporting cast goes cold.
Where things stand: snapshot of the NBA standings
With the dust settled from the latest slate, both conferences have their own brand of chaos. The East is top-heavy, with Boston and a handful of rivals jockeying for home-court advantage. The West is a knife fight from the middle seeds down to the Play-In, where one bad week can erase a month’s worth of work.
Here is a compact look at some of the key teams shaping the current NBA standings picture (records approximate and focused on tier positioning, not exact tiebreakers):
| Conference | Team | Record | Seed Range | Current Trend |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Boston Celtics | Upper-50s wins pace | 1–2 | Winners of most recent big game |
| East | Milwaukee Bucks | Mid-50s wins pace | 2–3 | Holding near the top |
| East | Philadelphia 76ers | Low-50s wins pace | 3–4 | Staying in home-court mix |
| West | Denver Nuggets | Low-50s wins pace | 1–3 | Steady at the top |
| West | Oklahoma City Thunder | Low-50s wins pace | 1–4 | Rising behind young core |
| West | Los Angeles Lakers | Around .500+ | 6–9 | Climbing after recent wins |
| West | Golden State Warriors | Below .500 | 9–12 | Fighting to stay in Play-In |
The Playoff Picture is fluid. In the East, the race to avoid the Play-In is heating up for teams in the 5–8 range, where one streak can flip a team from dangerous underdog to road-weary play-in visitor. In the West, it is pure survival. The Lakers’ surge has put pressure on teams above them, while a couple of recent stumbles have pulled the Warriors closer to the edge.
MVP Race: Jokic, Tatum, Giannis and the LeBron question
The MVP Race has become a weekly referendum, and last night’s action only added more fuel. Nikola Jokic remains the steady heartbeat of the Denver Nuggets, piling up near-triple-doubles with a kind of casual dominance that almost feels unfair. His Player Stats are videogame stuff: high-20s in points, double-digit rebounds, and elite assist numbers for a center who controls every possession like a point guard.
Tatum’s case is the classic best-player-on-the-best-team argument. The Celtics’ top spot in the NBA standings gives his resume weight, especially when his scoring bursts tilt big games and his playmaking growth shows up in late-game reads.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, keeps stacking monster stat lines for the Bucks. His blend of 30-plus points, relentless rim pressure and improved passing gives Milwaukee a nightly floor that few teams can match. The question is whether voters will lean toward gaudy box score dominance or the clean, machine-like winning profile of Boston and Denver.
Then there is LeBron. He is unlikely to win the award at this stage, but performances like last night force his way into the conversation around impact, longevity and what “value” really means. When he controls pace, organizes the offense and defends multiple positions in crunchtime, it is hard to ignore how difference-making he still is, decades into his career.
Top performers and box-score headlines
Across the league, several stars turned the last 24 hours into personal showcases. One guard dropped over 40 in a shootout, carving up defenses and living at the free-throw line. A rising young forward flirted with a Triple-Double, showing off the kind of all-court game that front offices dream of when they talk about “heliocentric” offenses.
On the flip side, a couple of big names struggled. A marquee scorer on a fringe playoff team went cold from the field, finishing with inefficient shooting and costly turnovers in the fourth quarter. Another All-Star-caliber wing saw his minutes reduced down the stretch as his coach leaned into a defensive lineup to claw back into a game that slipped away early.
Those swings matter. In a season where tiebreakers and point differential might decide seeds, every off night and every breakout Game Highlight can shift the narrative, the fan pressure and even front-office urgency ahead of the trade deadline.
Injuries, trades and the quiet tension before the deadline
The news ticker never sleeps. Several rotation players across both conferences picked up knocks, with a couple of key guards listed as questionable for their teams’ next games due to ankle tweaks and lingering hamstring issues. Coaches underscored the long view, insisting they will not rush anyone back in January when the real wars are in April and May.
Trade buzz is simmering just beneath the surface. Front offices of teams like the Lakers and Warriors are rumored to be canvassing the market for two-way wings and backup bigs, knowing that one shrewd move could swing a playoff series. Meanwhile, contenders like the Celtics and Nuggets can afford to be selective, only moving if the perfect rotation upgrade appears at the right price.
Every injury update shifts the calculus. A potential multi-game absence for a starting guard on a playoff hopeful could open the door for a younger player to showcase his skills, but it can also cost them precious ground in the NBA standings if the schedule tilts tough over the next week.
Looking ahead: must-watch games and storylines
The next few days on the schedule are loaded with potential statements. The Lakers face a stretch that includes another marquee national TV game, where LeBron and Davis can prove that this recent bump is not just a soft-schedule mirage. A showdown between the Celtics and another East contender will test Boston’s defense on the road and give more clarity to the seeding race up top.
Curry and the Warriors, staring at the Play-In line, have little margin for error. Their upcoming back-to-back set looms large; a 2–0 run could stabilize their season, while another 0–2 stumble would crank up the volume on trade rumors and rotation changes. For Denver and Jokic, the task is simpler: keep stacking business-like wins, keep the MVP numbers humming, and trust the system that already delivered a title.
Fans tracking Live Scores will have no shortage of drama. Between an MVP Race that feels open, a Playoff Picture with more volatility than stability, and nightly Game Highlights that turn role players into internet sensations for a day, this stretch of the season feels more like the opening act of the postseason than the middle of an 82-game grind.
The NBA standings will look different again in a week, but the themes are clear: the Celtics are for real, the Nuggets are still the champs until someone proves otherwise, LeBron and the Lakers refuse to fade, and Stephen Curry remains must-see TV. Buckle up, clear your evenings, and keep that box score window open on a second screen. This ride is just getting good.
