NBA Standings shake up: Lakers, Celtics, Nuggets and Doncic light up a wild night
14.01.2026 - 07:07:30
The NBA standings tightened again after a wild slate of games, with the Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Denver Nuggets and Luka Doncic’s Dallas Mavericks all leaving fingerprints on a night that felt a lot like April basketball. From LeBron James taking over in crunchtime to Nikola Jokic methodically shredding another defense, the playoff picture shifted by the possession.
[Check live stats & scores here]
LeBron flips the switch, Lakers claw up the West ladder
LeBron James once again reminded everyone why you never count him out in March. The Lakers trailed most of the night before James took control late, powering a comeback win that nudged Los Angeles upward in the Western Conference NBA standings and kept them out of immediate Play-In danger. He packed the box score with a near triple-double performance, combining scoring bursts from downtown with vintage bully-ball drives at the rim.
It was the kind of game where every possession felt like a referendum on the Lakers’ season. Their defense finally tightened in the fourth, switching everything, walling off the paint and forcing tough jumpers. Offensively, LeBron repeatedly hunted mismatches, dragging bigs out to the perimeter and punishing smaller defenders in the post. One Western assistant recently said, in essence, that when James smells postseason seeding on the line, "he just plays a different game." Last night fit that script.
Anthony Davis did the dirty work inside, living on the offensive glass and altering shots at the rim. His presence unlocked shooters in the corners, and several timely threes broke the opponent’s momentum. Even with an inconsistent regular season, this version of the Lakers looks more like the team no higher seed wants to see in a seven-game series.
Tatum’s Celtics grind out another statement win
On the other side of the country, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics passed yet another regular-season stress test. It was not a pretty offensive showcase, but Boston leaned into its identity: switch-heavy defense, long bodies on the perimeter and just enough shotmaking when it mattered. Tatum poured in a team-high scoring night, mixing step-back threes with midrange pull-ups and smart playmaking in pick-and-roll.
Jaylen Brown chipped in with a strong two-way effort, attacking closeouts and hounding the opponent’s top perimeter option. The Celtics’ depth again flashed: role players knocked down corner threes, dove on the floor for loose balls and turned a shaky second quarter into a decisive third-quarter run. Head coach Joe Mazzulla has emphasized pace and quick decision-making all year, and you could feel that in the way Boston pushed off misses, hunting early-clock threes before the defense could set.
The result: the Celtics preserved their cushion near the top of the Eastern Conference standings and continued to look like a team built for a deep playoff run. In an East that has seen contenders wobble with injuries and inconsistency, Boston’s combination of star power, spacing and switchable size still sets the bar.
Jokic toys with another defense as Nuggets climb
Nikola Jokic delivered yet another masterclass, logging a monster line that checked every box: points, rebounds, assists, all on ruthless efficiency. Denver’s franchise center read double teams before they arrived, pinging the ball to open shooters and cutters with the calm of a quarterback in seven-on-seven. Whenever the defense stayed home on shooters, Jokic simply rumbled into the lane, finished through contact or dropped in soft floaters.
His latest performance was more than a highlight reel; it was a seeding statement. The Nuggets tightened their grip on a top spot in the West, leveraging their home-court energy and familiarity to suffocate a tired opponent. Jamal Murray slid comfortably into the secondary-creator role, hitting big shots in crunchtime and orchestrating the second unit when Jokic sat.
After the game, Denver’s locker room tone was business-like. The message: this is what they expect every night now. With the defending champs rounding into form at both ends, the rest of the conference has to confront a brutal reality: beating Jokic four times in two weeks is still the toughest puzzle in basketball.
Doncic’s all-around show fuels Mavericks’ push
Luka Doncic added another page to his MVP-race portfolio with a stuffed stat line that had everything: high-30s scoring, double-digit assists and a rebound total that underlined his physical edge at the guard spot. From the opening tip he dictated tempo, posting smaller defenders, dragging bigs into space and firing cross-court lasers to shooters in the weak-side corner.
Dallas fed off Doncic’s swagger. The offense hummed when he spammed pick-and-rolls, drawing two defenders 30 feet from the hoop and trusting his teammates to cash in open looks. Even defensively, where critics often circle his name, he competed on the glass and used his size to steer drivers toward help.
The win gave the Mavericks valuable breathing room in the packed mid-tier of the West. In a conference where two losses can drop you from fifth to the Play-In, every Luka masterpiece has outsized seeding value.
How the top of the NBA standings look right now
With the dust from the latest slate of games barely settled, the top of both conferences is starting to harden, even if the middle remains a bar fight. Here is a snapshot of how the key contenders stack up in the current conference tables:
| East Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Leading East |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Top-tier contender |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | Chasing home court |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Firm playoff spot |
| 5 | New York Knicks | Climbing, eyeing top 4 |
| West Rank | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Denver Nuggets | In mix for 1st |
| 2 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Surging young core |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Elite defense |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | Star-powered push |
| 5 | Dallas Mavericks | Relying on Luka |
While the precise winning percentages and tiebreakers shift nightly, the power balance is clear. Boston has created separation in the East, while Denver, OKC and a resurgent Minnesota side are trading haymakers at the top of the West. The Clippers and Mavericks hover as dangerous matchups that nobody wants to see in a first-round bracket.
Below that, the Play-In tier has become a nightly knife fight. The Lakers, Warriors, Pelicans and several others are packed within a few games of each other, meaning a short losing streak could flip a team from hosting a series to fighting for its life in a single-elimination scenario.
MVP race: Jokic, Doncic, Giannis, Tatum and the numbers that matter
The MVP conversation sharpened again after this round of games. Jokic continues to drop absurd box scores, hovering near a triple-double average on elite efficiency. One night it is 30-plus points on barely any misses; the next it is a 20-20-10 line that looks ripped from a video game. Coaches around the league keep saying the same thing: you cannot scheme him out of a game.
Doncic answered with his own all-around fireworks, including stretches where he scored or assisted on nearly every Dallas point across multiple minutes. His Player Stats profile this year is heavy on usage, scoring and playmaking, and when the Mavericks win games like this against direct seeding rivals, his candidacy gains real traction.
Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks remain looming forces in the East. Even on nights when the Bucks stumble, Giannis routinely stamps the box score with 30-plus points, double-digit rebounds and a handful of assists, all while attacking the rim like it is still 2019. The question around Milwaukee has more to do with defense and cohesion than with Giannis’s individual dominance.
Tatum stays firmly on the MVP radar thanks to Boston’s elite record and his two-way consistency. His scoring outbursts do not always come with the same box-score theatrics as Jokic or Doncic, but voters will have a hard time ignoring the best player on a team that sits atop the standings wire to wire.
Injuries, absences and how they reshape the playoff picture
The other invisible force tugging at the NBA standings is the injury report. Several contenders have been juggling lineups, sitting stars on back-to-backs or navigating longer-term absences. That reality has turned bench depth into a playoff Picture storyline long before the bracket is set.
Coaches have started leaning more heavily on younger role players to soak up regular-season minutes, protecting veterans for the postseason grind. One Eastern coach recently summarized the trade-off: "You might drop a game now, but if it buys health in May, it is worth it." Those choices show up directly in the nightly Live Scores and sometimes in unexpected upsets when a heavy favorite rests multiple starters.
This is also the time of year when nagging injuries get re-evaluated. A tweak that was shrugged off in December suddenly becomes a threat to first-round home court if it lingers. Front offices, medical staffs and coaching groups are effectively playing a long chess match with the regular-season schedule, and fans can see the impact in rotational volatility from one night to the next.
Who is surging, who is slipping?
Teams like the Celtics and Nuggets are clearly surging, stacking wins and top-tier Net Ratings that justify their positions at or near the top of each conference. The Thunder and Timberwolves have also refused to fade, anchoring elite defenses and trusting young stars to carry big offensive loads.
On the flip side, a few once-comfortable teams are feeling heat from below. Defensive slippage, cold shooting stretches and tough road swings have dragged some would-be contenders closer to the Play-In line than they would like. For those squads, every late-game lapse now feels like a potential tiebreaker lost.
That is why last night’s Game Highlights around the league carried more weight than a typical midseason slate. Every blown box-out, every lazy closeout and every rushed possession can effectively count double in the standings when the pack is this tight.
Must-watch games on deck and why they matter
The upcoming schedule is stacked with matchups that will echo through the Playoff Picture. Contenders face each other in games that double as both measuring sticks and tiebreaker battles. When Denver sees Oklahoma City, it is not just a marquee showdown; it is a chance to bank a head-to-head edge for home-court rights. When the Lakers or Warriors meet direct competition in the 6-to-10 range, those contests become pseudo-playoff games in March.
Fans should circle marquee cross-conference clashes as well. When Boston runs into a Western heavyweight, it offers a rare glimpse of potential Finals previews and a stress test for both game plans. These are the nights when coaches shorten rotations, stars play heavier minutes and the intensity jumps a notch above normal regular-season pace.
Every night, the Live Scores ticker on NBA.com and the major outlets tells the same story: this season’s margin for error is razor thin. Between the MVP chase, the crammed middle of the bracket and the looming Play-In chaos, the NBA standings have rarely felt this volatile.
For fans, this is the sweet spot of the calendar. The stakes are real, the energy is high and almost every matchup carries seeding implications. Keep one eye on the box scores, another on the evolving injury reports and be ready for late-night thrillers that feel more like May than March. If last night was any indication, the sprint to the postseason is just getting started.
