NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge, Tatum’s Celtics hold firm as Curry, Jokic chase top seeds
08.02.2026 - 00:15:51
The NBA Standings got another jolt over the last 24 hours, with LeBron James and the Lakers climbing, Jayson Tatum’s Celtics holding their ground, and Stephen Curry and Nikola Jokic keeping the pressure on in a race where every possession suddenly feels like April basketball.
[Check live stats & scores here]
Across the league, playoff picture talk is no longer theoretical. Coaches are trimming rotations, stars are logging heavy minutes, and every box score is a referendum on who is really built for a deep run. From clutch threes from way downtown to bruising defense in the paint, this stretch is exposing contenders, pretenders, and everyone stuck in between.
Last night’s drama: Statement wins and missed chances
In the Western Conference, the Lakers’ latest win felt like a small playoff game in February clothing. LeBron James once again controlled the tempo, flirting with a triple-double while Anthony Davis anchored the defense with another monster double-double performance. The Lakers’ halfcourt execution late, especially in crunchtime pick-and-rolls, looked sharper than it has in weeks.
Postgame, LeBron made it clear that the standings are front of mind. He essentially said that at this point of the season, there are no throwaway possessions and no throwaway nights. The message landed: this is push time in L.A., and the margin for error in the West is razor thin.
Up in Boston, Tatum and the Celtics handled business like a seasoned contender. Even when the offense stalled for a few possessions, their switching defense smothered any comeback hopes. Tatum poured in efficient points from all three levels, while Jaylen Brown attacked closeouts and punished smaller defenders on the block. It felt like a routine win on the surface, but in the standings context, every one of these keeps Boston’s cushion at the top intact.
Golden State, behind Stephen Curry, leaned again on their superstar’s gravity. Even on a night when Curry doesn’t go nuclear, his movement off the ball shreds defensive schemes and opens clean looks for role players. The Warriors needed every bit of that shotmaking and spacing to grind out a tight one. The win nudges them upward in a crowded West play-in zone and keeps the door cracked for a late-season climb.
In Denver, Jokic continued to do Jokic things. Another night, another near-triple-double masterclass in control: points on soft touch hooks, rebounds in traffic, and laser-beam passes that turned broken sets into layups. The Nuggets’ offense still looks totally different the moment he sits, a reminder of just how central he is to their title hopes and to the evolving MVP race.
How the NBA Standings look now: top seeds and the Play-In squeeze
At the top, Boston continues to set the pace in the East, while Denver, Oklahoma City and Minnesota keep trading haymakers in the West. The separation between a home-court seed and a road-heavy opening series remains dangerously slim for teams like the Lakers, Mavericks and Warriors.
Here is a compact snapshot of the current conference picture around the top and the all-important Play-In line (records illustrative of the current tiering, exact win-loss shifting almost nightly):
| East Rank | Team | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Best in East | Locked-in contender |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Top 3 | Chasing Boston |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | Top 4 | Harden-less but dangerous |
| 7 | Miami Heat | Above .500 | Play-In threat no one wants |
| 10 | Atlanta Hawks | Below top tier | Clinging to Play-In |
| West Rank | Team | Record | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | Top of West mix | Jokic-driven favorite |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Top 3 | Young and fearless |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Top 3 | Elite defense |
| 8 | Los Angeles Lakers | Around .500 | In the Play-In scrum |
| 10 | Golden State Warriors | Around .500 | Curry keeping hope alive |
The exact win-loss lines may shift by the hour, but the tiers are clear. Boston and Denver look like 1-seed caliber squads. Milwaukee sits firmly in that second Eastern tier, with the 76ers hovering depending on health. In the West, the Thunder’s young core alongside Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Wolves’ size with Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns keep them in the mix, but playoff reps will matter when the pace slows down.
The most volatile real estate is around the Play-In tournament. The Lakers, Mavericks, Kings and Warriors constantly toggle between the 6-seed dream and the 9-10 nightmare where one cold shooting night can end a season. Every head-to-head in this group now feels like a must-win, which is why you see starters logging heavy minutes in what would normally be experimental February lineups.
Player stats and last-night standouts
On the individual front, the box scores from last night delivered exactly what this part of the season tends to bring: star explosions and role players defining the margins.
LeBron James stuffed the stat sheet again, putting up a high-20s scoring line with near double-digit assists and rebounds. It was not an empty-calories performance either. He orchestrated the offense late, repeatedly creating mismatches and finding shooters in the corners when the defense sent extra help. His Player Stats on the season remain remarkable for a veteran in year 21, with averages still hovering around the 25-7-7 neighborhood.
Anthony Davis added another bruising double-double, grabbing boards in traffic and living at the rim on offense. His rim protection tilted the math for the Lakers’ defense, forcing opponents to settle for pull-up jumpers rather than easy paint touches.
Stephen Curry’s scoring line sat in the typical high-20s to low-30s window, fueled by deep pull-ups from way downtown and free throws earned on hard closeouts. Even when he doesn’t flirt with 40, his three-point gravity bends the floor in ways that never show up fully in the basic box score. The Warriors’ spacing and ball movement simply do not exist without his constant relocation.
Nikola Jokic posted another near or full triple-double, with points on surgical efficiency, double-digit rebounds, and assists that turned backdoor cuts into layups. His season-long Player Stats once again look like something out of a video game: high-20s points, double-digit rebounds, and around nine assists, all on absurd shooting splits.
Jayson Tatum delivered a clean scoring performance, living in that 25 to 30 point window with strong efficiency. He mixed step-back threes, drives through contact, and midrange pull-ups that looked effortless. Defensively, he switched across three positions, buying Boston the flexibility that makes their scheme so hard to crack.
Not everyone thrived. A couple of high-usage guards struggled with efficiency, forcing shots in crunchtime and finishing with more field-goal attempts than points. Those are the kind of nights that, in late March or April, can swing a series. Right now they just serve as a warning flare: decision-making under pressure still needs work.
MVP race: Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Tatum and the late push from LeBron
The MVP race has hardened into a familiar core of names, but the hierarchy can still swing with a big two-week run. Jokic remains the steady favorite in many corners thanks to elite advanced metrics, team success near the top of the West, and a nightly triple-double threat. Every time he posts another 30-15-10 style line in a win, he effectively dares voters to overthink it.
Luka Doncic continues to drop outrageous box scores, regularly posting 30-plus points with double-digit assists and a heavy sprinkling of rebounds. His usage is massive, his shot creation is elite, and the Mavericks’ placement in the NBA Standings will heavily influence how seriously his candidacy gets treated down the stretch.
Giannis Antetokounmpo is still a nightly demolition. High-20s to low-30s points, relentless rim pressure, and enough playmaking to keep Milwaukee’s halfcourt afloat. What could hold him back is narrative fatigue and the Bucks’ inconsistency against the league’s very best.
Jayson Tatum represents the classic best-player-on-the-best-team case. His counting stats are strong, his defense is better than casual observers realize, and Boston’s record speaks for itself. If the Celtics keep stacking wins and the individual explosions line up at the right time, his campaign could surge.
LeBron is more of a dark-horse name, but his continued production at this age combined with a late-season Lakers push would keep him at least on the outskirts of the MVP conversation, even if the odds remain long. Voters typically demand both gaudy Player Stats and a top-3 seed, and that second requirement is still a serious climb for L.A.
Injuries, roster tweaks and the playoff picture pressure
Injuries continue to stalk the league and reshape the playoff picture. Several contenders are navigating absences to key rotation pieces, forcing deeper bench players into pressure minutes they did not expect in February. Coaches are transparent about it: the priority is keeping stars healthy for April, even if that means a few dropped games in the short term.
Minor knocks to primary ball-handlers or rim protectors can swing individual games now, which in turn can swing seeding. A sprained ankle to a starting guard can turn a likely win into a toss-up, especially on the road on a back-to-back. For teams in the 5-to-10 range in each conference, that is the difference between home-court advantage and a win-or-go-home Play-In matchup.
On the roster front, fringes of rotations are fluid. Teams looking to solidify their bench are leaning into stretch bigs who can shoot threes, big wings who can credibly guard up and down lineups, and backup point guards who can simply get them into sets without turnovers. Every signing and every 10-day now gets judged by one question: can this guy survive on the floor in a playoff series?
What’s next: must-watch matchups and standings stakes
The schedule ahead offers a handful of games that could age like playoff previews. Any Celtics vs. Bucks showdown instantly becomes a measuring stick in the East. A Nuggets clash with the Thunder or Timberwolves carries real 1-seed implications. And any time the Lakers, Warriors, Mavericks or Kings meet each other, it is essentially a four-point game in the standings.
Fans tracking Live Scores will want to keep one eye on those Western bubble battles. A single hot shooting night from Curry, a monster two-way game from Davis, or a 40-point masterpiece from Doncic can send ripples through the entire West playoff picture. It is that tight.
From here on out, every night feels heavier. The top seeds are hunting rest and rhythm, the middle seeds are desperate to dodge the Play-In, and the teams below that line are just trying to keep the lights on until they can sneak into 10th. The NBA Standings are going to swing with every run, every crunch-time stop, and every late-game three from deep. Stay locked in, because the next week alone could reshuffle half the bracket.
