NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold firm as Curry keeps Warriors alive
08.02.2026 - 06:50:40
The NBA Standings tightened overnight as LeBron James and the Lakers gained crucial ground, Jayson Tatum kept the Celtics steady at the top of the East, and Stephen Curry once again bailed out the Warriors to keep their Playoff Picture hopes alive. The scoreboard told one story, but the pressure in every possession screamed something louder: the stretch run is here, and every trip up or down the table matters.
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Lakers lean on LeBron as West race gets tight
Los Angeles walked into the night knowing there was no margin for error, and LeBron James played like it. The Lakers leaned on their 39-year-old superstar in classic crunchtime fashion, with LeBron dictating tempo, hunting mismatches, and picking apart the defense from the elbows and above the break. His Player Stats line jumped off the page: efficient scoring, high-level playmaking, and just enough on the boards to control the flow.
What mattered even more than the raw numbers was the context. The Lakers have been hovering around the middle of the Western Conference pack for weeks, and this win nudged them up in the NBA Standings, away from the most dangerous edge of the Play-In zone. Every possession felt like April basketball. You could see it in the urgency of their closeouts, in how Anthony Davis battled on the glass, and in the way role players spaced the floor with purpose instead of drifting.
Postgame, the message out of the Lakers locker room was crystal clear: this is the version of their defense and halfcourt execution they believe can travel into the postseason. One assistant coach summed it up, saying the team had "finally stacked stops when it mattered" and that LeBron "set the tone from the jump." The Game Highlights will show the threes and transition dunks, but the coaches kept pointing to a late fourth-quarter sequence of back-to-back stops as the real turning point.
Celtics steady at the top, Tatum in full control
On the other coast, the Celtics did what top seeds are supposed to do: they handled business. Jayson Tatum was in command all night, calmly orchestrating the offense while punishing mismatches from the wing. The Celtics offense flowed through his drives and kick-outs, generating clean looks from downtown that slowly broke the game open.
Tatum’s Player Stats profile across the season continues to fuel the MVP Race. Another 30-plus point night on strong efficiency, with solid contributions in rebounds and assists, keeps him firmly at the heart of the conversation. What keeps coaches and scouts raving, though, is his defensive engagement. The box score never fully captures the impact of Tatum stunting into driving lanes, switching onto bigger bodies, and rebounding in traffic.
Boston’s win allowed them to maintain their cushion at the top of the Eastern Conference, reinforcing what the NBA Standings have hinted at for weeks: if someone wants to unseat the Celtics, they are going to have to do it in Boston, in front of a crowd that has treated every big regular-season matchup like a playoff preview.
Curry keeps the Warriors afloat with another scoring show
Stephen Curry once again turned a tight, nervy contest into his personal showcase, ripping off a barrage of threes that flipped the game and, at least for now, kept Golden State’s postseason hopes from slipping further away. There was a familiar script to the Game Highlights: Curry relocating off the ball, shaking free off staggered screens, then walking into deep threes from several steps beyond the arc as the defense scrambled.
The Warriors are still fighting their way up from the Play-In mix, and they badly needed this one. In the updated Playoff Picture, Golden State sits in that uncomfortable zone where one bad week can send you tumbling out of contention. Curry’s Player Stats line continues to look phenomenal, but the margin for error around him is razor thin. When he sits, the offense sputters. When he is on, the Warriors can beat almost anyone for a night.
Even head coach Steve Kerr, usually measured, admitted afterward that the team "goes as far as Steph’s gravity can take us" right now. That’s both a compliment and a warning. Living off Curry heroics is not a sustainable postseason formula, but in the short term, it is the only reason Golden State still matters in the playoff chase.
How the top of the NBA Standings looks now
With the latest results in the books, the picture at the top of each conference remains sharp but far from settled. Seeds are fluid, especially in the West, where one or two games separate home-court advantage from a road Play-In nightmare. Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference currently stacks up:
| East Rank | Team | Record | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | Best record in East | Holding steady |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Chasing Boston | Inconsistent defense |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | Top-tier when healthy | Injury-dependent |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | Climbing | Surging form |
| 5 | New York Knicks | Firm in top 6 | Physical identity |
| West Rank | Team | Record | Trend |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder / Denver Nuggets zone | Neck-and-neck at top | Trading blows |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Elite defense | Minor wobble |
| 4 | LA Clippers | Veteran core | Managing health |
| 5 | New Orleans Pelicans / Phoenix Suns tier | Playoff lock range | Streaky |
| 6–10 | Lakers, Warriors & Play-In pack | Clustered records | Highly volatile |
Those numbers underline just how thin the margins have become. In the East, Boston and Milwaukee still shape the title narrative, but the resurgent Cavaliers and the Knicks’ physical style mean there are no easy second-round paths. In the West, the defending champion Nuggets keep reminding everyone they know how to win ugly, while the young Thunder look fearless, pushing the pace and defending with edge.
For fringe teams, the Playoff Picture is even harsher. One off night can swing you from eighth to eleventh. That is why a single Lakers win or Warriors comeback is not just another W; it is a lifeline. Coaches talk all the time about “stacking days” and “pocketing wins.” In early April, that cliché suddenly sounds like hard math.
MVP Race: Tatum, Jokic, and the stars shaping the season
The MVP Race continues to be a three-headed battle at the top, with Jayson Tatum, Nikola Jokic, and at least one high-usage guard all staking legitimate claims. Tatum’s two-way dominance and Boston’s elite record give him a strong narrative, especially when he strings together 30-point nights in comfortable wins. He is the best player on the best team, and the NBA Standings reflect that.
Jokic, meanwhile, keeps doing Jokic things. Another near triple-double, another night where he controlled every offensive possession without needing to sprint or soar. His Player Stats line across the season remains absurd: high 20s in points, double-digit rebounds, and elite assist numbers for a center. Whenever the Nuggets pull out a win in a halfcourt slugfest, it is usually because Jokic dissected the defense from the elbow or the post, hitting cutters and shooters until the opponent finally broke.
Then there is the backcourt star power. Curry’s scoring explosions, Luka Doncic’s usage-heavy triple-doubles, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s relentless rim attacks each carry their own narrative. Shai especially has turned the Thunder from a fun League Pass watch into a legitimate top-of-the-table problem, with Player Stats that scream MVP-level impact even if the national conversation has been slower to catch up.
Some voters will lean on pure box-score dominance, others on team success. Right now, Tatum and Jokic have the cleanest blend of both. But any late-season surge from Curry, Doncic, or Shai in high-stakes, nationally televised games could still bend the race at the margins.
Injuries, depth, and the brutal math of the stretch run
Beyond the box scores and the highlight packages, injuries are quietly reshaping the season. Several contenders are walking a tightrope with key rotation pieces either banged up or playing through pain. One more setback for a starting guard or a rim-protecting big can instantly flip a team from home-court favorite to vulnerable upset candidate.
Coaches are juggling minutes, managing workloads, and gambling on when to push and when to rest. Players openly talk about "playing through stuff" because the standings table leaves them no choice. That is where depth suddenly becomes the most important, least glamorous storyline. Bench wings who can switch and hit a corner three, backup bigs who can survive six minutes without fouling out, second-unit ball handlers who do not turn the ball over – these are the hidden reasons why some teams climb and others slide.
There is also the psychological grind. Veterans on teams stuck in the Play-In zone admit it feels like every night is a mini postseason. One brutal shooting slump, one blown coverage in crunchtime, and weeks of work can slip away. Younger teams like the Thunder and Cavaliers, on the other hand, are playing with a different energy, almost oblivious to the pressure. That looseness shows up in transition, in the freedom of their Game Highlights, and in how they respond after a bad loss.
What to watch next: must-see matchups and shifting tiers
The next few days are loaded with games that could swing the Playoff Picture and the MVP Race at the same time. Top-tier clashes between contenders in both conferences will feel like scouting reports for May and June. When the Celtics see another East playoff rival, every Tatum possession will be dissected. When Jokic faces a West up-and-comer, every possession will be studied for cracks in Denver’s armor.
For fans, this is the sweet spot of the regular season: enough data to know who is real, but just enough chaos left in the NBA Standings to make every result feel heavy. The Lakers and Warriors will keep fighting to avoid the worst of the Play-In gauntlet. Young cores like the Thunder, Cavaliers, and Pelicans will try to prove that their rise is not just a one-season fluke. And stars like LeBron, Curry, Tatum, and Jokic will be chasing not just wins, but legacies.
If the trends we saw last night hold, expect more thriller finishes, more crunchtime isolation showdowns, and more box scores that look like something out of a video game. Buckle up, clear your calendar for the marquee tip-offs, and keep one eye glued to the live scores. The standings are moving, the noise is rising, and the real season is almost here.
