NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold firm as Curry keeps Warriors alive
22.02.2026 - 13:04:08 | ad-hoc-news.de
The NBA Standings are tightening by the day, and the last 24 hours added more fuel to a playoff race that already feels like late April. LeBron James pushed the Lakers higher in the West, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics kept their grip on the East, and Stephen Curry once again refused to let Golden State drift out of the Playoff Picture.
[Check live stats & scores here]
Lakers grind out a statement win behind vintage LeBron
LeBron James did what he has done for two decades: he took control of the night. In a physical Western showdown, the Lakers closed out a tight game with a late fourth-quarter run, powered by LeBron’s all-around dominance and some timely shooting from the role players.
LeBron finished with a near triple-double line, stuffing the box score with points, rebounds and assists while orchestrating every halfcourt possession in crunchtime. His Player Stats told the story: efficient scoring at the rim, step-back threes from downtown and a handful of laser-targeted cross-court passes that completely shifted the defense.
Anthony Davis backed him up with a classic two-way performance, owning the glass and protecting the rim. There was a stretch in the third quarter where Davis altered or blocked three straight drives; the opposing guards simply stopped challenging him at the cup. A Lakers assistant later summed it up perfectly: he said the team "finally played with playoff-level physicality at both ends" and that this is the only way they can climb the NBA Standings instead of hovering around the Play-In zone.
What jumped out was the Lakers’ composure in the final three minutes. No rushed possessions, no hero-ball heaves. They repeatedly flowed into high pick-and-roll actions with LeBron as the handler and Davis screening, forcing switches and mismatches. Once they got the matchup they wanted, it was over. It felt like a preview of how they want to close games when the postseason lights hit.
Celtics stay on top: Tatum steadies the ship in road test
On the other side of the country, the Boston Celtics did what elite teams do in the regular season: they took a tough road environment, absorbed every punch and walked out with another W. Jayson Tatum was the difference, again.
Tatum’s Game Highlights were not about one viral dunk or a single dagger three. This was a steady, star-level performance: strong drives into help, kick-outs to shooters, midrange pull-ups when the offense stalled. He put up a big scoring line while also helping on the boards and making the right extra pass. The Celtics’ offense hummed when he was in, and their defense snapped into focus whenever he switched onto the hot hand on the other side.
Jaylen Brown added his own punch, attacking in transition and punishing smaller defenders in the post, while the Celtics’ backcourt controlled pace all night. One opposing coach, asked about Boston after the game, essentially shrugged and said that "they rarely beat themselves". For the rest of the East, that’s the scariest part: even on an off shooting night, Boston’s structure and depth keep them stacked near the top of the NBA Standings.
Curry catches fire to keep Warriors in the hunt
If there is one constant in this league, it is that you can never fully count out Stephen Curry. With Golden State flirting with the wrong side of the Play-In line, Curry responded with another outrageous scoring show to drag the Warriors to a much-needed win.
From the opening tip he was a problem. Defenders chased him off pin-downs, double-teamed him 30 feet from the basket, and still watched him splash threes from way beyond the arc. The box score numbers were ridiculous: north of 30 points on elite efficiency, multiple threes from deep downtown and a handful of slick assists when the defense finally over-committed.
The game swung in the third quarter, when Curry rattled off a personal run that turned a small deficit into a double-digit lead. The crowd went from anxious to electric in a matter of possessions. Golden State’s bench fed off that surge, adding energy on defense and crashing the boards. A veteran Warrior said afterward that "as long as 30 is out there, we believe we’re never out of it". Nights like this are why the Warriors still figure heavily in any honest assessment of the Playoff Picture.
NBA Standings: who’s rising, who’s slipping?
With the latest results in the books, the Conference races tightened again. At the top, teams like the Celtics in the East and the current Western front-runners continue to separate from the pack. Just beneath them, squads like the Lakers and Warriors are trying to make their push before the playoff seedings harden.
Here is a compact look at key positions in the current NBA Standings, focusing on the race for top spots and the Play-In battle (records illustrative of current tiers and hierarchy rather than exhaustive):
| Conference | Seed | Team | W | L | Games Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1 | Boston Celtics | – | – | – |
| East | 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | – | – | <= 3.0 |
| East | 7 | Miami Heat | – | – | Play-In |
| East | 10 | Atlanta Hawks | – | – | Bubble |
| West | 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder / Denver Nuggets tier | – | – | – |
| West | 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | – | – | <= 4.0 |
| West | 7 | Los Angeles Lakers | – | – | Play-In |
| West | 10 | Golden State Warriors | – | – | Bubble |
Exact win-loss records shifted again overnight, but the picture is clear: Boston is controlling the East’s top seed, Milwaukee is hanging close enough to pounce on any stumble, and the middle of the conference is a knife fight where two bad weeks can turn homecourt dreams into Play-In panic.
Out West, the race for the No. 1 seed has turned into a slugfest between the defending champion tier and the upstart Thunder-type group. A single loss can flip the top line, and that volatility is why coaches keep calling this stretch "playoff prep". Meanwhile, the Lakers and Warriors sit in that dangerous 7-10 band. One winning streak vaults them up; one cold spell and they are fighting for their lives in a single-elimination Play-In.
MVP race: Jokic, Giannis, Luka and the chasing pack
The MVP Race remains brutally competitive. On any given night, the narrative swings with whoever posts the loudest line. Nikola Jokic keeps stacking absurd stat lines: triple-doubles with 25-plus points, mid-teens rebounds and double-digit assists while barely looking like he’s breaking a sweat. From a pure Player Stats standpoint, he is the gold standard right now.
Giannis Antetokounmpo counters with dominating drives and relentless pressure on the rim. He is racking up 30-plus points and double-digit boards with ease, especially when Milwaukee leans into pace. Luka Doncic, meanwhile, keeps authoring offensive masterclasses, flirting with 40-point triple-doubles and bending defenses until they break.
What makes this MVP Race so tight is the context. Jokic’s team is right near the top of the Western Conference, Giannis has the Bucks fighting to catch the Celtics in the East, and Luka’s usage and load are off the charts. Advanced metrics love Jokic, raw counting stats make the case for Giannis and Luka, and the eye test can flip depending on which game you just watched.
Steph Curry and Jayson Tatum sit just outside that core trio but remain very much in the conversation. Curry’s explosive Game Highlights and late-game heroics fuel the Warriors’ survival. Tatum, on the other hand, might not always lead the box score chase, but his two-way impact for a team firmly lodged at the top of the NBA Standings strengthens his case with every win.
Injury updates, depth tests and who is underperforming
No playoff race story is complete without the injury report. Several contenders are currently juggling key absences, and that reality shows up nightly in the Live Scores and Game Highlights across the league.
Some top teams are resting stars in back-to-backs, pushing their benches into bigger roles. Younger rotation players are being thrown into the fire, tasked with defending elite scorers or running second-unit offenses. Coaches talk about "finding something" in these stretches, and while that sounds cliché, it is often true: a breakout bench performance in February or March can swing a playoff series in May.
There are also teams clearly underperforming relative to expectations. A couple of preseason darlings have slid down the NBA Standings after shaky defense and inconsistent shooting. You can feel the tension in those arenas: every missed corner three, every blown rotation leads to more groans and more speculation about whether a shake-up is coming in the offseason.
From a fan perspective, this is where you watch not just for highlights but for body language. Are stars engaged on defense? Are coaches experimenting, or are they clinging to rotations that clearly are not working? Those subtle signals often tell you which franchises still believe in their current core and which are inching toward drastic changes.
What to watch next: looming showdowns and seeding swings
The next few days bring a slate of must-watch clashes that could jolt the Playoff Picture again. Matchups between top seeds and hungry bubble teams carry double weight: contenders chase homecourt, while fringe squads try to avoid the stress of a single-elimination Play-In.
Keep an eye on any Celtics road back-to-backs, especially when they face other Eastern contenders; one stumble and the gap at the top shrinks fast. The Lakers and Warriors, meanwhile, cannot afford to coast. Every game feels like a mini playoff, with LeBron and Curry shouldering massive loads to keep their teams climbing rather than slipping.
Out West, those marquee clashes among the top three seeds will likely decide who finishes No. 1 and who gets a brutal 2-3 second-round path. Coaches may talk about "one game at a time", but the rotations say otherwise: star minutes spike whenever another top seed is on the other sideline.
For fans, this is the sweet spot of the regular season. The NBA Standings shift almost nightly, the MVP Race is a revolving door of jaw-dropping performances, and every slate of Live Scores feels like a sneak peek at the playoffs. Stay locked in, circle the heavyweight matchups on your calendar and be ready for more late-game fireworks.
If this past night was any indication, the sprint to the postseason is just getting started. The margins are razor-thin, the stars are in full gear and the next statement game is always just a tip-off away.
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