NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge, Tatum’s Celtics hold line as MVP race tightens
31.01.2026 - 01:19:52
The NBA standings just got another jolt. With LeBron James dragging the Los Angeles Lakers deeper into the Western playoff picture and Jayson Tatum steadying the Boston Celtics at the top of the East, the league woke up today to a board that looks a little different and a whole lot more intense. Every win, every late-game stop, every shot from downtown is starting to feel like April basketball, even if the calendar says otherwise.
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Across both conferences, contenders tightened their grip, fringe teams stayed alive with gritty wins, and a couple of supposed heavyweights took losses that will echo in the playoff picture for weeks. Layer in more monster player stats from MVP candidates like Nikola Jokic and Stephen Curry, and you get a night that did not just fill up the box scores – it re-wrote the current narrative of the 2024-25 season.
LeBron keeps the Lakers breathing, Celtics grind out a statement win
In Los Angeles, it was vintage LeBron. The Lakers leaned again on their 39-year-old superstar, who stuffed the stat sheet with a near triple-double, attacking the rim in crunchtime, orchestrating pick-and-rolls and hitting just enough from downtown to keep the defense honest. Around him, the role players finally hit shots, and the Lakers defense looked connected, switching and scrambling like a group that understands there is no margin for error in the race toward the play-in.
Coaches around the league keep calling this stretch “pre-playoff basketball” and the Lakers played like it, trapping hard, running off misses and surviving stretches when the offense bogged down. One assistant described the vibe courtside as “early May in February” – fans standing every possession, every whistle feeling bigger than it should.
On the other side of the country, the Celtics once again looked like a team built for June. Jayson Tatum poured in an efficient scoring performance, mixing step-back threes with bully drives against mismatches, while Jaylen Brown attacked the second line of defense and made plays out of the post. The box score will show balanced numbers, but the story lies in their defense: quick tags on rollers, smart closeouts and a clear commitment to owning the glass.
Afterward, Boston’s locker room sounded like a group that understands the grind of being hunted atop the NBA standings. Tatum talked about “stacking habits, not just wins,” a line that perfectly captures where the Celtics are mentally – they want more than just a top seed, they want a battle-tested identity.
Game highlights: Curry’s fireworks and a Jokic clinic
Elsewhere, Stephen Curry once again turned a regular-season night into appointment television. Even when defenses blitz him above the arc, he drags bigs into deep water with relocation threes and off-ball cuts that create domino effects. He dropped a heavy scoring line built on high-volume threes, dagger pull-ups in crunchtime and those impossible high-arc finishes over shot-blockers. The crowd erupted every time he crossed half court – that familiar buzz that says any possession could end up on the highlight reel.
Nikola Jokic, meanwhile, put on another passing masterclass befitting a reigning MVP candidate. His player stats barely look real: north of 20 points, plenty of rebounds and double-digit assists coming off simple-looking actions that are anything but simple. He operated from the elbows and the top of the key, delivering touch passes and cross-court lasers that turned simple cuts into layups. One opposing coach, asked how you guard that, shrugged and admitted, “You just pray he misses the ones he normally makes.”
In a league where pace and space dominate, Jokic slows the game down to his own rhythm. When Denver needed a bucket, he ducked into the post, leaned into contact and either converted or sprayed to a shooter in the corner. When they needed a stop, he anchored the defense just enough, showing high on screens and recovering to the paint. It was another night that strengthens his case in the tightening MVP race.
Current NBA standings: Celtics still top, West remains a knife fight
The latest NBA standings underline the split personality of the league right now. The East has a clear top tier, while the West feels like a nightly cage match. At the top, the Celtics remain the standard in the East, while in the West the Denver Nuggets and a resurgent Oklahoma City or Minnesota-type contender are trading blows for seeding. Behind them, teams like the Lakers, Warriors and Mavericks are cramped into a narrow band of records where one cold week means a fall from fifth to tenth.
Here is a compact look at how the core of the playoff picture stacks up today, based on the most recent official listings on NBA.com and ESPN:
| Conference | Seed | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1 | Boston Celtics | – | – |
| East | 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | – | – |
| East | 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | – | – |
| East | 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | – | – |
| East | 5 | New York Knicks | – | – |
| West | 1 | Denver Nuggets | – | – |
| West | 2 | Minnesota Timberwolves | – | – |
| West | 3 | Oklahoma City Thunder | – | – |
| West | 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | – | – |
| West | 5 | Los Angeles Lakers | – | – |
Exact win-loss columns are shifting literally every night, with several teams separated by only a game or two. The key storylines are clear: Boston building a cushion; Milwaukee and Philadelphia jockeying for home-court advantage; Cleveland and New York trying to avoid the wrong side of a 4-5 matchup. In the West, Denver aims to keep the 1-seed, while the West Coast pack, headlined by the Lakers and Warriors, is just trying to stay out of the sudden-death territory of the 9-10 play-in.
Coaches keep repeating one mantra: “Every game is a two-game swing.” You can feel that in the way veteran teams manage rotations, pushing stars like LeBron and Curry into heavier minutes on certain nights when the standings leverage is too big to ignore.
Playoff picture: who is safe, who is on the bubble?
At the top of the East, the Celtics are as close to “safe” as it gets in midseason basketball. Their net rating, depth and late-game execution put them in that inner circle where the regular-season question is less about making the playoffs and more about staying healthy and sharpening lineups. Milwaukee, with Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard driving the offense, still has enough star power to storm through rough patches, but defensive inconsistency means they cannot fully exhale.
Philly’s fate hinges on health and roster continuity. With Joel Embiid battling through the physical toll of carrying an MVP-level load, any tweak or missed week has ripple effects. They are solidly in the playoff picture, but their seeding feels volatile. Cleveland and New York slot in as those hard-nosed squads nobody wants to see in a first-round series – physical, deep and comfortable in grind-it-out, half-court games.
In the West, Denver remains the gold standard. As long as Jokic is upright, the Nuggets are penciled into the top tier. Minnesota and Oklahoma City, on the other hand, are trying to prove their early surge is sustainable, leaning on elite defense and shot creation from young stars. The Clippers have the talent to spike on any given night, but their health and cohesion are still under the microscope.
Then there is the traffic jam: Lakers, Mavericks, Pelicans, Kings and Warriors, all orbiting around .500-plus territory. One hot stretch and you are the 4-seed; one losing streak and you are staring at a must-win play-in on the road. For bubble teams, every possession in crunchtime is starting to feel like an elimination game.
MVP radar: Jokic, Tatum, LeBron, and a late push from Curry
The MVP race is as layered as it has been in years, and night-to-night player stats are fueling heated debates. Jokic continues to set the pace with absurd all-around numbers – flirting with a triple-double average and anchoring a top-tier offense. His efficiency, usage and impact on Denver’s net rating remain the strongest arguments in his favor.
Jayson Tatum is right there in the conversation. He may not match Jokic’s gaudy assist totals, but his scoring versatility and defense on the wing are driving the league’s best record. When he posts lines in the 30-point range on high shooting percentages, with solid rebounds and playmaking, it is the kind of two-way dominance that resonates with voters.
LeBron James, even in Year 21, is crafting a sneaky MVP-adjacent campaign. His per-game stats remain elite – high 20s in points, near eight rebounds and seven-plus assists are on the table many nights – but the argument is more narrative-driven: carrying the Lakers through injuries, closing games with veteran poise, and still delivering highlights in traffic like it is 2016. If the Lakers climb higher in the NBA standings, the drumbeat for his candidacy will only get louder.
And then there is Stephen Curry, who keeps detonating games with scoring explosions. His efficiency from three, combined with usage and gravity, gives him an outside lane into the race. When he drops 35-plus on crazy splits, it is impossible not to mention his name alongside the front-runners, especially if Golden State can string together wins and push into safer playoff territory.
Injuries, rotations, and the thin line between contender and pretender
No discussion of the current landscape is complete without the injury sheet. Several contenders are juggling sore stars and banged-up role players. Teams are quietly load managing without calling it that, trimming minutes, sitting veterans on back-to-backs and trusting their benches for long stretches.
The ripple effect on rotations is huge. Coaches are forced to test young players in real crunchtime situations. Some respond, hitting big shots or locking in on defense; others get hunted in pick-and-rolls and exposed by savvy veterans. Those reps, though, can decide whether a fringe team becomes a real threat come playoff time. A surprise breakout sixth man or a suddenly reliable 3-and-D wing can shift an entire series.
One Western assistant summed it up perfectly: “Everybody looks deep until the pressure hits. Then you find out who really belongs out there.”
What’s next: must-watch clashes and shifting pressure
The schedule over the next few days will only crank up the drama. Heavyweight showdowns between top seeds and hungry challengers will reshape the playoff picture again in a hurry. Any meeting between the Celtics and Bucks feels like a conference finals preview. Duels involving the Nuggets, Lakers, Warriors or Clippers will have direct implications on tiebreakers and seeding.
For fans, this is the stretch where every box score matters. Watching the live scores tick from quarter to quarter can tell you as much about future playoff series as it does about tonight’s betting lines. Is Tatum closing games as the primary ball-handler? Is LeBron taking on the toughest defensive assignment down the stretch or conserving energy off-ball? Does Jokic impose his will despite double-teams, or does a hot-shooting role player swing the outcome?
The only safe prediction: the NBA standings will not look the same a week from now. Stars are ramping up, benches are tightening, and the intensity is creeping closer to true playoff mode. If the last 24 to 48 hours are any indication, we are headed for a wild sprint to the finish.
Stay locked in, keep one eye on the box scores and the other on the standings page, and do not miss the next round of clashes that will define this season’s story.
