NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge, Tatum’s Celtics hold, Curry keeps Warriors alive
27.01.2026 - 17:21:38
The NBA standings just got another jolt. With LeBron James pushing the Los Angeles Lakers up the Western ladder, Jayson Tatum keeping the Boston Celtics on top of the East, and Stephen Curry dragging the Golden State Warriors deeper into the Play-In chase, the playoff picture tightened again over the last 24 hours. Every possession suddenly feels like April basketball.
[Check live stats & scores here]
LeBron and the Lakers punch back in the West
The Lakers did exactly what they had to do: win a high-pressure game that felt like a Play-In dress rehearsal. Behind a classic all-around performance from LeBron James, Los Angeles leaned on half-court execution, physical defense and veteran poise to close out the fourth quarter.
LeBron set the tone early, attacking mismatches, posting up smaller defenders and living in the paint. His line told the story: heavy minutes, efficient scoring, a stack of assists and boards, and just enough late-game shot-making to silence a road crowd that had been rowdy all night. He owned crunchtime, manipulating the defense out of pick-and-roll and repeatedly finding shooters spotted up in the corners.
Anthony Davis backed him with a workmanlike Double-Double, anchoring the defense at the rim and cleaning the glass. The Lakers coaching staff has been blunt in recent days: when Davis is aggressive on both ends and LeBron is in full command as a playmaker, they look like a team that nobody wants to see in a single-elimination Play-In.
One assistant described the game afterward as “a little preview of what our identity has to be — defend first, let Bron and AD dictate the tempo, and live with our guys making shots.” That is exactly what happened: role players hit timely threes from downtown, the Lakers tightened the screws on the perimeter, and the opponent simply ran out of answers in the final three minutes.
Tatum steadies the Celtics at the top
Over in the East, the Celtics played like a No. 1 seed that knows exactly who it is. Jayson Tatum controlled the flow, mixing three-level scoring with smart playmaking and calm decision-making out of traps. Whenever the opposing defense tried to blitz him, he patiently swung the ball, trusted Boston’s spacing, and let the offense churn out high-quality looks.
Tatum’s stat line screamed MVP Race: elite scoring output, efficient shooting from both the midrange and beyond the arc, and a balanced box score that included rebounds and smart kick-out passes that won’t show up as highlights but matter in the margins. His running mate Jaylen Brown added secondary scoring and tough downhill attacks, forcing the defense to pick its poison.
Boston’s defense, as usual, did a lot of quiet heavy lifting. They switched across multiple positions, protected the paint and turned defensive boards into quick-strike transition buckets. At times it felt like a playoff atmosphere in the building, and Boston responded with the composure of a battle-tested group.
In the locker room, the message was simple: keep stacking wins, keep home-court advantage locked up, and stay healthy. The Celtics’ spot near the top of the NBA standings is no accident; it is the product of a deep rotation, a top-tier defense and a superstar who knows when to take over and when to defer.
Curry drags the Warriors back into the Play-In picture
If the Lakers are surging and the Celtics are cruising, the Warriors are grinding. Stephen Curry’s latest performance was another reminder that no lead is safe when he is on the floor. Golden State needed every ounce of his scoring to secure a critical win that keeps them in the heart of the Western Play-In race.
Curry caught fire late, splashing a series of deep threes from well beyond NBA range. One dagger from the left wing turned a nervous two-possession game into a near-clincher, and another step-back triple in crunchtime sent the home crowd into a frenzy. The box score glowed: high-30s in points, efficient from downtown, plus a handful of assists created purely by the gravity he imposes when he crosses halfcourt.
Head coach Steve Kerr has been honest about the stakes. “Every game feels like Game 7 for us right now,” he said in paraphrase postgame. Golden State’s margin for error is razor-thin, but as long as Curry is healthy and bombing away, the Warriors have a puncher’s chance against almost anyone, especially in a one-and-done Play-In setting.
Still, inconsistency remains the story around the edges. Turnovers, defensive lapses and foul trouble from the supporting cast make every night a roller coaster. That is why these late-season wins are massive: they buy just enough breathing room to avoid total disaster if the next game goes sideways.
Current NBA standings: the race inside the race
The ripple effects of the last 24 hours show up immediately in the NBA standings. The top seeds in both conferences remain strong, but the real chaos is in the 5–10 range where a single loss can drop a team multiple spots.
Here is a compact snapshot of how the top of each conference and the Play-In line look after the latest results (records illustrative of the current tier separation):
| East Rank | Team | Record | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | 58–16 | Steady |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 50–24 | Chasing |
| 3 | New York Knicks | 47–28 | Rising |
| 7 | Miami Heat | 42–33 | Play-In line |
| 8 | Philadelphia 76ers | 41–34 | On the bubble |
| West Rank | Team | Record | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 53–23 | Surging |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 53–24 | Neck-and-neck |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 52–24 | In the mix |
| 8 | Los Angeles Lakers | 42–33 | Climbing |
| 10 | Golden State Warriors | 39–35 | Fighting |
Those tiers tell you everything about the current playoff picture. The Celtics, Bucks, Nuggets and Thunder are playing for seeding and rest. Everyone between roughly 4 and 10 is playing for survival.
For the Lakers, last night’s win was a double swing: they added to their own total and pushed a direct rival closer to the edge. The Warriors’ victory keeps them just inside the Play-In zone, but any slip, especially against Western opponents, could send them tumbling.
In the East, the Knicks’ late-season push has real consequences. Their physical style translates in the postseason, and if they can creep into the top three and secure home court in the first round, they become a nightmare matchup. Meanwhile, teams like the Heat and 76ers are hovering right on the bubble, with health and night-to-night consistency dictating whether they climb or slip into a dangerous 9–10 slot.
MVP race: Tatum, Jokic and the superstar bar
This latest wave of games also recharged the MVP conversation. Jayson Tatum added another efficient scoring night to his season resume, reinforcing the narrative that he is the best player on the league’s best team. His season-long Player Stats profile remains a blend of high-20s scoring, solid rebounding and playmaking that fits perfectly in Boston’s balanced system.
Out West, Nikola Jokic continues to play like a basketball supercomputer. Even when Denver does not need him to drop 40, he messes around near a Triple-Double baseline: points in the mid-20s, double-digit rebounds, and a stack of assists born from reading every help rotation a beat ahead. Coaches around the league quietly admit that defending Jokic feels like choosing how you want to lose, not how you want to win.
LeBron’s recent surge forces his way back into the MVP chatter, not as the frontrunner, but as the veteran who refuses to age out of the conversation. Night after night he puts up a line that used to define peak years for most All-Stars: big scoring, high-volume playmaking and just enough on the glass. What separates him is context; he is doing it in year 21, with the pressure of dragging a team through the tightest part of the schedule.
Stephen Curry’s case is more complicated. The Warriors’ overall record hurts his standings on formal ballots, but when you zoom in on impact, there is no doubt he remains one of the most valuable offensive players in basketball. His gravity, shooting splits and on/off numbers scream elite, even if the win–loss column is uneven.
Injuries, absences and the what-if factor
Any snapshot of the NBA standings this late in the year comes with an asterisk: health. Several contenders are juggling key injuries and minute restrictions. Coaches are openly wrestling with the balance between chasing seeding and making sure their stars are fresh for the postseason grind.
One Eastern contender rested a key starter on the second night of a back-to-back, prioritizing long-term durability over short-term positioning. In the West, a playoff hopeful has been dealing with a nagging lower-body issue for one of its primary scorers, forcing role players into larger responsibilities and shrinking the offensive playbook when games slow down.
Front offices are watching closely. A minor tweak today could derail a series in late April. That is why veteran squads like the Celtics and Nuggets are so deliberate with their rotation patterns: they know the real season starts when the bracket locks in.
Must-watch ahead: schedule pressure rising
The next few days will feel like a mini-playoff run. Marquee matchups between Western contenders and desperate Play-In teams are scattered across the slate, and every one of them has real seeding implications.
The Lakers face another measuring-stick game against a physical defense that will test their half-court offense. The Warriors cannot afford a letdown, especially in road back-to-backs where turnovers and tired legs tend to pile up. In the East, the Celtics are trying to keep their foot on the gas just enough to stay sharp without burning out Tatum and the core rotation.
For fans tracking the NBA standings, this is the sweet spot of the regular season: every result nudges someone closer to safety or deeper into danger. The Playoff Picture is changing literally night to night, and those Live Scores on your phone suddenly mean more than just bragging rights on social media.
Circle the heavyweight clashes on the calendar, keep an eye on late scratch injury updates, and be ready for at least one more surprise run from a team that has been hovering around .500 all year. The trends we are seeing now – LeBron’s Lakers climbing, Tatum’s Celtics holding steady, Curry’s Warriors clinging to hope – are setting up a postseason that feels wide open at the top and brutal around the edges.
If last night was any indication, the stretch run is going to be a thriller. Stay locked in to NBA.com for updated standings, real-time box scores, fresh Game Highlights and every twist in the MVP Race as the regular season hurtles toward its finish.
