NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry keeps Warriors in the hunt
24.01.2026 - 21:00:51
The NBA standings just tightened another notch. On a night loaded with playoff-level intensity, LeBron James dragged the Los Angeles Lakers up the Western ladder, Jayson Tatum kept the Boston Celtics steady at the top of the East, and Stephen Curry once again tried to will the Golden State Warriors into the Play-In conversation. The ripple effects on the playoff picture, the MVP race and every fan’s nightly scoreboard watch were impossible to miss.
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Last night’s drama: Stars deliver, standings move
It felt like April intensity in January. From the opening tip in Los Angeles to the final buzzer on the East Coast, the schedule was loaded with matchups that actually move the needle in the NBA standings. Every possession mattered, every timeout felt like a chess move, and the stars treated it like a dress rehearsal for the postseason.
LeBron James set the tone early for the Lakers, dictating pace, hunting mismatches and attacking downhill. Whether he was bullying smaller wings in the post or spraying kick-out passes to shooters in the corners, his fingerprints were all over a statement win that nudged the Lakers further away from the bottom of the Play-In pack and closer to that coveted top-six safety zone.
On the other side of the country, Jayson Tatum reminded everyone why Boston has looked like a juggernaut. He scored at all three levels, repeatedly punishing switches, and his composure in crunchtime kept the Celtics from coughing up a lead that briefly looked shaky when the opponent went on a late fourth-quarter run. The Garden crowd had that familiar playoff buzz; every made shot felt like a message to the rest of the East.
And then there is Steph. Curry’s Warriors, fighting to keep their season alive and relevant, once again leaned on his gravity. Defenders chased him 30 feet from the basket, yet he still found daylight for deep threes from downtown and crafty finishes at the rim. Every time Golden State needed a bucket to stop a run or flip momentum, the ball found No. 30.
Game highlights: Who owned the night
The night’s results didn’t just fill up the scoreboard; they shook up seeding lines and tiebreaker math that will matter in April. Upsets, mini-statements and a couple of heartbreaker finishes defined the action.
In Los Angeles, the Lakers leaned into their size and physicality. Anthony Davis was a defensive wall, swallowing drives and controlling the glass, while LeBron orchestrated from the top. The Lakers won most of the hustle categories, from second-chance points to loose-ball scrambles, and that edge showed in the final margin. Opposing coach comments afterward sounded like a familiar refrain: “When they defend like that and LeBron is in attack mode, they’re a different team.”
Boston’s win had a different flavor. The Celtics were surgical offensively, piling up assists with crisp ball movement and hunting the best shot on every trip. Tatum and Jaylen Brown took turns torching single coverage, while the backcourt kept the ball zipping side to side, forcing the defense into late, desperate closeouts. The opponent made a late push, but a Tatum dagger three out of a timeout felt like a playoff script: star isolation, high screen, pull-up over a contest, net barely moving.
Golden State lived on the edge again. A flurry of Curry threes in the third quarter reignited the Chase Center, but familiar issues – defensive lapses, fouls in bad moments, and a thin margin for error – turned it into a nail-biter. One more defensive stop, one less turnover, and the Warriors’ path in the West looks a little cleaner. Instead, they leave the night with more work to do just to stay in the Play-In mix.
Elsewhere on the board, a couple of underdogs punched above their weight and made noise in the standings. A young roster in the East knocked off a veteran contender with energy and fearless shot-making, another reminder that there are no off nights in this league. One Western dark horse continued its quiet climb, stacking wins behind balanced scoring and a top-tier defense that travels.
NBA standings snapshot: Top of the mountain and the Play-In grind
With the dust from last night’s schedule just settling, the NBA standings in both conferences show a clear split between true contenders, confident playoff teams, and those living in permanent scoreboard-watch mode. The top seeds are fighting for home-court advantage and rest; the middle tier is just trying to avoid the Play-In chaos.
Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference and the Play-In line are shaping up right now (records illustrative for the current landscape):
| East Rank | Team | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Best-in-East | Firm grip on 1-seed |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Top-tier | Chasing Boston |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | Top-tier | Health is key |
| 7 | Miami Heat | .500+ | Play-In danger zone |
| 10 | Atlanta Hawks | Below .500 | Clinging to Play-In |
| West Rank | Team | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder / Denver Nuggets mix | Top-tier | Neck-and-neck at the top |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Contender | Elite defense |
| 6 | Los Angeles Lakers | Above .500 | Fighting for safety |
| 9 | Dallas Mavericks | .500+/- | Play-In swing team |
| 10 | Golden State Warriors | Below .500 | Hanging onto Play-In |
The Celtics have built real separation at the top of the East, and last night’s result only reinforced that grip. They are stacking wins, banked tiebreakers and the kind of home-court advantage that can tilt a Game 7. Behind them, Milwaukee and Philadelphia are jockeying for position while managing minutes and monitoring injuries.
The West is far more of a knife fight. Denver, Oklahoma City and Minnesota keep trading spots near the top, but the real chaos sits from five through ten. That is where the Lakers’ surge matters most, and where every off shooting night by a bubble team reverberates instantly in the NBA standings. Golden State remains right on that Play-In ledge, and one bad week could send them tumbling out of the picture.
Playoff picture: Who is safe, who is sweating
Look at the bracket lines and it already feels like late March. The clear tiers are starting to form, even if seeds still flip nightly.
In the East, Boston is the measuring stick. Milwaukee’s size and offensive punch keep them firmly in contender territory, but their defense still flickers between elite and exploitable. Philadelphia’s outlook lives and dies with health, and any missed time from a star shifts them from home-court lock to dangerously close to the 4–5 collision. Teams like Miami and New York are lurking as those annoying, battle-tested lower seeds nobody wants to see in Round 1.
Out West, the reigning champs in Denver are pacing themselves for the long run, while OKC and Minnesota are thriving on youthful legs and top-three defenses. The Lakers, with LeBron and AD healthy, are the classic “nobody wants that smoke” lower seed. Slide them into a 6 or 7 spot and every top seed’s fan base will suddenly be doing matchup math and praying for an easier draw.
The Warriors’ situation is more fragile. With Curry still playing at an All-NBA level, Golden State is dangerous on any given night. But the margin is razor thin: one cold shooting stretch, one nagging injury, and their Play-In cushion evaporates. The next two weeks of their schedule, loaded with Western opponents, could decide whether this is a retool-on-the-fly season or one last meaningful run with the core.
MVP race and player stats: Tatum, Joker, Giannis and the LeBron factor
Every big night from a superstar is now a ballot statement. The MVP race is a traffic jam of monster stat lines and narrative weight, and last night only added fuel.
Jayson Tatum continues to build a resume that goes beyond volume scoring. His line in the latest win tells the story: high-20s to low-30s in points, efficient shooting from the field and from three, plus solid rebounding and playmaking. More importantly, the Celtics are winning at a pace that historically correlates with MVP trophies. Being the best player on the best team still matters.
Nikola Jokic remains a walking triple-double threat in Denver, warping defenses with his passing and using his size to dominate the paint. Box scores with 30-plus points, double-digit rebounds and near double-digit assists have become routine, which is outrageous in any era. Giannis Antetokounmpo, meanwhile, is putting up video-game numbers in Milwaukee, living in the paint and pressuring the rim every possession.
LeBron complicates the picture. His per-game stats remain elite, flirting with 25-plus points, around 7–8 boards and 7–8 assists on efficient splits, and the Lakers’ improved positioning in the West strengthens his case from a narrative standpoint. Historically, voters lean toward the best player on a top-seed juggernaut, but if the Lakers keep climbing, the “How are we ignoring LeBron at this level, at this age?” conversation will only get louder.
Steph’s numbers tell their own story. Around 27–29 points per game on high-volume threes, strong true shooting and constant attention from opposing defenses make him the engine of everything Golden State does. The problem, at least in the awards race, is team record. Voters rarely reward MVP candidates from Play-In-seed teams, no matter how wild the Player Stats look.
Injuries, rotations and the hidden stories behind the box score
As always, the standings are not just about who scored what last night. Injury reports and rotation tweaks are quietly reshaping the season’s trajectory.
Multiple contenders are in load-management mode, trimming minutes for their stars on back-to-backs while gambling that bench units can survive those stretches. Several key role players are nursing minor but nagging issues – hamstrings, ankles, sore knees – that do not grab headlines but absolutely swing regular-season wins.
Coaches across the league are experimenting with smaller lineups, switching-heavy defenses and three-guard looks. Some teams are leaning into youth, giving developmental minutes to young wings who can switch 1 through 4 and run the floor. Others are shortening the rotation early, playing an eight- or nine-man playoff-style script in January to lock in habits and chemistry.
The trade chatter is simmering in the background. Front offices are quietly checking prices on 3-and-D wings, backup centers who can survive a playoff series, and secondary ball handlers who can run offense when stars sit. Every move now has to run through one question: does this help us climb even one line higher in the NBA standings, or does it at least harden us for a seven-game war?
What’s next: Must-watch games and shifting momentum
The next wave of games only raises the stakes. The Celtics are staring at a stretch against fellow East contenders that will test their top-seed cushion. One or two losses and the door cracks open for Milwaukee or Philadelphia to make a run. For Boston fans, every upcoming national TV matchup will feel like a referendum on just how dominant this core really is.
For the Lakers and Warriors, the West schedule is a gauntlet of direct competitors. Lakers matchups against other Play-In hopefuls and mid-tier seeds could essentially be “four-point games” in the standings. A strong week could push them further into the safe zone; a stumble could drag them right back into the traffic jam.
Golden State faces the harshest math. With so many Western teams bunched up around .500, every head-to-head loss doubles as a tiebreaker blow. Fans in the Bay will be living on the refresh button for live scores, hoping for Curry heroics and a little scoreboard help from around the league.
At the macro level, the trend lines are clear. Boston looks like a machine. Denver, Oklahoma City and Minnesota are playing a game of musical chairs at the top of the West. The Lakers are trending up at exactly the right time. The Warriors are fighting for survival. And every night on the schedule feels a little bit more like April.
For fans, the play is simple: keep one eye on the TV, one eye on the live scoreboard, and get used to checking how last night’s results shook up the NBA standings the moment you wake up. The race is officially on.
