NBA Standings shake-up: Nuggets, Celtics, Thunder surge while LeBron’s Lakers and Curry’s Warriors fight for ground
26.01.2026 - 10:02:39
The NBA standings just got another jolt. On a night loaded with playoff-level intensity, Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets tightened their grip near the top, Jayson Tatum kept the Boston Celtics humming, and once again LeBron James and Stephen Curry found themselves grinding for every inch in a brutally tight playoff picture. Every result now feels like it swings seeding, momentum, and even the early MVP race.
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Across the league, the latest wave of games reshuffled the NBA standings just enough to fuel new debates: Are the Nuggets separating from the Western pack again? Can the Celtics sustain their two-way dominance into June? And will the Lakers and Warriors have enough gas, health, and help around LeBron and Curry to avoid the play-in minefield?
Game Recap: Nuggets flex, Celtics cruise, contenders trade punches
Start in Denver, where Nikola Jokic once again looked like he is playing chess while everyone else is stuck on checkers. The two-time MVP put up another monster line, stacking points, rebounds, and assists in classic Jokic fashion and steering the Nuggets to a comfortable home win. It was less about the final score than the way Denver controlled every possession, building a cushion early and never really letting the opponent sniff a comeback.
Jokic’s impact went well beyond the box score. He orchestrated the offense from the high post, punished mismatches on the block, and turned doubles into open threes for his shooters. One Western scout watching from the stands summed it up quietly: “When they’re locked in like this, nobody wants to see them in a seven-game series.”
Out East, the Celtics handled business with the type of professional win that top seeds are supposed to stack at this point in the season. Jayson Tatum filled it up from all three levels, flirting with a 30-piece while staying in command of the tempo. Jaylen Brown helped set the tone on both ends, and Boston’s defense again squeezed the life out of a tired opponent, forcing bad shots and living off misses in transition.
The game never turned into a full-on thriller, but it didn’t need to. It felt like a message: the Celtics are not just topping the NBA standings; they are playing with the calm of a group that knows anything short of a Finals run will be labeled a disappointment.
In California, the drama was thicker. The Lakers had to grind through another high-pressure night with LeBron James running the offense, Anthony Davis anchoring the paint, and very little margin for error. LeBron controlled crunchtime possessions, hunting mismatches, getting downhill, and spraying passes to shooters. Davis patrolled the rim and did the dirty work on the glass. While the win column tells you they survived, the eye test says the Lakers are still living on the edge with every rotation tweak and every minor injury scare.
Up the coast, Stephen Curry once again lit it up from downtown, but the Warriors are still trying to stitch together consistent defense and bench production around their star. Curry buried deep threes, kept them within striking distance and turned what could have become a blowout into a fourth-quarter nail-biter. Yet Golden State’s margin for error is razor-thin. One cold stretch or defensive lapse flips a game, and in this West race, a single loss can drop you two spots overnight.
Coaches and players echoed the same theme after the final buzzer: seeding is nice, but health and rhythm might be even more important. A veteran coach in the West put it this way, paraphrased: “It’s not just about where you finish in the NBA standings; it’s about how you’re playing when you get there.” Right now, Denver and Boston look like they’re gliding. L.A. and Golden State are still fighting the turbulence.
How the NBA Standings look at the top
With the latest results locked in, both conferences show a clear top tier and a messy middle. The Nuggets and Thunder headline the West, while the Celtics remain the standard in the East, with hungry contenders chasing.
Here is a snapshot of the top of each conference, focusing on the teams shaping the playoff picture.
| West Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | Elite winning pace |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Right on Denver's heels |
| 3 | Top West contender | Within a few games |
| 9-10 | Los Angeles Lakers / Golden State Warriors | Firmly in play-in mix |
| East Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Best record in the league mix |
| 2 | Top East contender | Close behind Boston |
| 3-6 | Chasing pack | Separated by a handful of games |
| 7-10 | Play-in teams | Night-to-night volatility |
The exact win-loss lines shift daily, but the shape of the playoff picture is clear. Denver and OKC are fighting for the 1-seed and the right to avoid a brutal second-round matchup. The Lakers and Warriors are bouncing between the last guaranteed playoff spots and the play-in danger zone. Every back-to-back, every road trip, and every minor injury is magnified.
In the East, the Celtics sit on top and will likely prioritize rest and health as much as wins down the stretch, carefully managing minutes for Tatum and Brown. Below them, the standings are stacked with teams separated by only a game or two. One three-game losing streak can flip home court advantage in the first round. It already feels like a prelude to playoff basketball.
MVP race heat check: Jokic, Tatum and the usual suspects
On nights like this, the MVP race isn’t won, but it gets framed. Jokic keeps putting up MVP-caliber player stats with casual dominance: high-20s in points, double-digit rebounds, and near double-digit assists on efficient shooting. He doesn’t chase numbers; he just bends games to his will. When the Nuggets need a bucket in crunchtime, he gets it. When they need a smart read, he makes it. That two-way gravity is why so many voters are quietly leaning his way again.
Jayson Tatum, meanwhile, is compiling the kind of season that usually wins MVP if there isn’t a generational big man re-writing the rulebook. Nights of 30 points on strong efficiency, guarding multiple positions, and closing out wins with calm shot-making are now standard. He may not always have the flashiest highlight reel, but the combination of team success and all-around production keeps him at the core of every MVP conversation.
LeBron James and Stephen Curry remain more on the fringes of the MVP race because of team records, but their individual performances are still elite. LeBron continues to drop near-triple-doubles in his 21st season, reading defenses like a quarterback and bullying his way to the rim when he senses blood. Curry is still the league’s most terrifying shooter from downtown, capable of detonating for 40 on any given night and single-handedly flipping game scripts.
Coaches know exactly what those stars mean to their teams. As one Western assistant observed, paraphrased: “If you pull Jokic off Denver or Tatum off Boston, you feel it in the NBA standings the next day. Same with LeBron and Steph. That’s the definition of value.”
Hot and cold: who is surging, who is slipping?
Beyond the top-line stars, a few role players and rising names helped shape last night’s results. One wing sharpshooter hit key threes from the corners to stretch the floor for his star teammate, while a young guard came off the bench to provide instant offense and swing the momentum of a sluggish first half. Those kinds of performances rarely grab national headlines but make or break regular-season wins.
On the other side, a couple of veteran shooters continue to struggle with consistency. Open looks are rimming out, and their defensive lapses are getting harder to hide against top competition. For teams like the Lakers and Warriors, already thin on the margins, every cold streak by a rotation player puts extra weight on the shoulders of LeBron and Curry in crunchtime.
Defensively, some contenders are trending in opposite directions. Denver’s communication and rotations looked sharp, closing out to shooters, tagging rollers, and trusting their scheme. Boston again showed why their switch-heavy approach travels well: they forced late-clock heaves and walled off the paint. Meanwhile, a couple of bubble teams were shredded in pick-and-roll, giving up straight-line drives and second-chance points that will haunt them in film sessions.
Injuries, absences and how they tilt the playoff picture
The latest injury updates continue to cast a shadow over the stretch run. Several playoff hopefuls are juggling star players on minutes restrictions or holding key contributors out of back-to-backs. Coaches are trying to strike the balance between chasing better seeding in the NBA standings and making sure they reach the postseason with something left in the tank.
For a team like the Lakers, even a minor tweak for Anthony Davis changes everything. His rim protection covers up a lot of perimeter mistakes, and his ability to punish smaller lineups in the post opens up clean looks for shooters. If he is less than full strength, the defense drops a tier and the offense loses its inside-out rhythm.
Golden State faces a similar calculus with Curry. Any missed time from their centerpiece forces role players into larger offensive roles than they are built for. That, in turn, puts even more pressure on the defense to be perfect, and this version of the Warriors simply hasn’t been that airtight on that end.
Coaches won’t say it publicly, but you can sense the anxiety. The margin between a 5-seed and a 9-seed is often just a short losing streak triggered by one key absence. That’s why so many fan bases are refreshing injury reports and live scores as often as they check the actual box scores.
What’s next: must-watch games and how they could reshape the race
The next few days on the schedule are loaded with matchups that feel closer to playoff previews than standard regular-season fare. There are heavyweight cross-conference showdowns where Denver and Boston will measure themselves against elite opposition, and there are lower-seed grudge matches that could decide who climbs out of the play-in and who sinks deeper into the bubble.
Lakers-Warriors games now carry extra juice, with LeBron and Curry not just chasing legacies but also fighting for immediate survival in the standings. Every possession between these two feels like a mini-event: deep threes from Curry, bulldozing drives from LeBron, defensive gambles, and the inevitable run where one superstar tries to rip the game away.
The Thunder also deserve more national spotlight. With their pace, length, and fearless young core, they have turned into one of the league’s toughest outs on any given night. Their upcoming clashes with the Nuggets and other West contenders could tilt seeding at the very top and further validate this breakout season.
For fans, it is the perfect convergence of narrative and numbers. The NBA standings are tight enough that one hot week or one brutal road trip can make or break a season. The MVP race is still open enough that every signature performance from Jokic, Tatum, LeBron or Curry feels meaningful. And the nightly grind of player stats, game highlights and clutch-time drama is only going to intensify.
If the trends of the last 24 to 48 hours hold, expect Denver and Boston to keep playing like teams that believe they should be in the Finals, the Thunder to continue punching above their age, and the Lakers and Warriors to wage an uphill fight to stay relevant. The only certainty is that the next wave of box scores will bring another twist.
Strap in, clear your evening schedule, and keep one eye glued to live scores. This stretch run is turning into a nightly referendum on who is truly built for June, and the NBA standings will keep telling the story, one heart-stopping finish at a time.
