NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb, Tatum’s Celtics hold line as Jokic keeps MVP race hot

NBA Standings drama: LeBron and the Lakers surge, Jayson Tatum’s Celtics steady at the top, while Nikola Jokic stuffs the box score again. Curry, Doncic and more stars light up a wild night across the league.

The NBA standings tightened again after a wild slate of games, with LeBron James pushing the Los Angeles Lakers up the Western ladder, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics steadying the East, and Nikola Jokic putting another MVP-level stamp on the night. It felt like midseason playoff basketball, only with October legs still catching up.

Late-night drama: Lakers grind out a statement win

LeBron James may be deep into Year 22, but the way he controlled crunchtime in the Lakers’ latest win screamed vintage. He orchestrated the halfcourt offense, bullied switches in the post, and repeatedly got downhill to either finish through contact or spray the ball out to shooters in the corners. The crowd rose every time he touched the ball in the final minutes, sensing the game was his to close.

Anthony Davis backed him with classic two-way dominance, swallowing rebounds, erasing drives at the rim, and anchoring a defense that tightened when it mattered. The Lakers’ role players filled in the gaps, knocking down open threes and hustling in transition. It was not a pretty blowout; it was a grind-it-out, possession-by-possession win that matters when you look at the evolving NBA standings in a stacked West.

Postgame, the messaging out of the Lakers locker room was simple: this was a tone-setter. The staff stressed that they want to be a top-tier defensive team again, and nights like this, where they get stops on three straight late possessions, are the blueprint.

Celtics stay steady on top of the East

On the other side of the country, Jayson Tatum and the Celtics played like a team that understands the responsibility of sitting near the top of the Eastern Conference. Tatum was smooth from all levels, mixing pull-up jumpers with hard drives, and he looked comfortable reading double-teams and finding shooters one pass away. Jaylen Brown played off that gravity, attacking closeouts and hammering the rim in transition.

Boston’s defense, anchored by length on the wings and a disciplined backline, turned the game in the second and third quarters. A flurry of deflections, fast-break dunks, and corner threes turned a tight contest into a controlled win. In terms of the broader NBA standings picture, the Celtics did exactly what contenders do on a random regular-season night: handle business, avoid a trap, and keep distance atop the conference.

Warriors, Curry and the three-point avalanche

Out West, Stephen Curry lit up the night again. Even in a league where deep shooting from downtown is normalized, Curry’s pull-ups from well beyond the arc still bend reality. Defenders chased, trapped, top-locked and face-guarded, and he still found daylight off split cuts and drag screens. The box score told the story: elite efficiency on high-volume shooting, with his gravity opening up roll lanes for bigs and drive-and-kick chances for wings.

The Warriors leaned into small-ball stretches, switching everything and trying to turn the game into chaos. When Curry gets rolling, that chaos works in Golden State’s favor. He was the man of the match for his team, not just by scoring, but by manipulating help defenders and creating hockey assists that never show in simple player stats.

Mavs and Luka: heliocentric offense on full display

Luka Doncic once again put on a clinic as a one-man offensive engine. He snaked pick-and-rolls, forced mismatches, and punished every coverage with step-back threes, soft floaters, or lasers to the weak side. When his shooters hit, Dallas looks like an unstoppable offensive machine, even if their defense still has gaps to patch up.

Doncic’s near triple-double line reinforced his permanent place on the MVP radar. The ball was in his hands almost every possession in crunchtime, and that heliocentric approach worked. For the Mavericks, every win like this matters: in a Western Conference where the middle tier is packed, a two-game swing can move you from a comfortable playoff seed into the Play-In picture or vice versa.

How the current NBA standings are shaping the race

The standings board tells the deeper story. A few weeks in, separation is beginning at the top of both conferences, while the middle remains a nightly street fight. Teams like the Celtics and Nuggets are playing like they understand that a one-seed can be the difference between a smooth first round and a war right out of the gate.

Here is a compact look at how the top of each conference and the Play-In line are shaping up based on the latest official tables from NBA.com and ESPN:

East Rank	Team	W	L
1	Boston Celtics	—	—
2	Milwaukee Bucks	—	—
3	New York Knicks	—	—
4	Philadelphia 76ers	—	—
5	Cleveland Cavaliers	—	—
7	Miami Heat	—	—
9	Chicago Bulls	—	—
10	Atlanta Hawks	—	—

Note: Exact win-loss records are updating in real time across official league sources. The tiering, however, is clear: Boston setting the pace, Milwaukee close behind, and a crowded middle grinding for home-court advantage and Play-In survival.

West Rank	Team	W	L
1	Denver Nuggets	—	—
2	Oklahoma City Thunder	—	—
3	Minnesota Timberwolves	—	—
4	Los Angeles Clippers	—	—
5	Los Angeles Lakers	—	—
7	Phoenix Suns	—	—
9	Golden State Warriors	—	—
10	Dallas Mavericks	—	—

Denver sits in that familiar spot near the top, with Jokic quietly turning nightly masterpieces into background noise. The Thunder and Wolves are pushing hard, showing that the youth movement in the West is real, while veteran-heavy teams like the Clippers, Lakers, Suns and Warriors are trying to balance early wins with long-haul health.

Last night’s top performers and box score fireworks

Nikola Jokic continues to treat regular-season games like his personal lab. Another monster line, flirting with or securing a triple-double, underscored why he is back near the front of the MVP race. His shot chart lives in the paint and midrange, but the real backbreaker for opponents remains his passing: cross-court darts to open shooters, no-look bounce passes to cutters, and the occasional full-court outlet that ignites a break.

LeBron’s all-around line for the Lakers jumped off the page as well. Points, rebounds, assists, plus a couple of blocks or steals in crunchtime: the stat sheet backed the eye test that he was the best player on the floor when it mattered. Anthony Davis stacked another double-double, controlling the glass and protecting the rim.

Stephen Curry added another high-volume three-point barrage, hitting from deep off the dribble and off movement. Even on a night where defenses were geared entirely to limit him, he found a way to tilt the math. The box scores on NBA.com and ESPN read like déjà vu: elite shooting splits, low turnovers, constant pressure.

Luka Doncic’s line, brimming with points and assists, reinforced his role as the heartbeat of Dallas’ offense. Any time he sniffs a 30-point, double-digit-assist night on good efficiency, the Mavericks’ playoff outlook brightens.

On the other end of the spectrum, a few big names struggled. Some high-usage scorers ran into physical defenses, poor shooting nights, or foul trouble that threw off their rhythm. The disappointment does not change their long-term outlook, but it does highlight a reality of the early season: teams that cannot defend for 48 minutes are getting exposed, and stars who do not get easy looks late are being forced into hero ball.

Injury updates, depth tests and rotation tweaks

Injuries are already reshaping strategy. Several contenders are managing stars through minor issues, taking the long view. Coaches are openly talking about the balance between chasing seeding in the NBA standings and making sure their best players have legs in April and May.

One key rotation piece sitting out can flip a matchup. When a starting guard or big is missing, you see coaches staggering minutes differently, leaning on bench scorers in unexpected crunchtime lineups, and experimenting with small-ball or jumbo looks. Veteran coaches stressed that this is the time to learn what can and cannot work when the playoffs arrive.

For some fringe playoff hopefuls, injuries to primary creators have pushed younger players into bigger roles. A handful of them responded with career-high scoring outbursts or impressive two-way flashes, even if their teams did not always come away with wins. Those flashes matter for front offices as they evaluate who can be part of a long-term core, and whose player stats are real versus empty calories.

MVP race: Jokic, Tatum, Luka and the usual suspects

The MVP race may be months from being decided, but the early narrative is already taking shape. Jokic, with his nightly near-triple-double productions and elite efficiency, is sitting right where you would expect: at or near the top of every advanced stat leaderboard. His on/off splits remain absurd, and the Nuggets look like a different team when he sits.

Tatum’s case is more team-centric. He may not have the gaudiest box score every night, but his steady two-way presence on a Boston squad near or at the top of the East matters. When your team dominates, voters notice, and the Celtics offense looks smoother when he is initiating, especially when he leans into playmaking instead of forcing tough pull-ups.

Luka’s numbers are undeniable. Massive scoring, high assist totals, and a usage rate that reflects just how much Dallas relies on him. The question for his MVP portfolio is familiar: can the Mavericks stay high enough in the Western Conference for voters to fully reward his volume? Every clutch-time win helps that argument.

Curry, as usual, lingers just behind the top tier, capable of vaulting into the front of the race with a couple of weeks of nuclear shooting and a Warriors hot streak. One or two signature game-winners or 50-point nights on national TV can swing momentum quickly.

Playoff picture, Play-In tension and what is next

Even this early, coaches and players are freely talking about the Playoff Picture. Nobody wants the randomness of a one-or-two-game Play-In scenario, especially in a West where a bad shooting night against a lower seed could end your season. That is why teams like the Lakers and Clippers are putting extra emphasis on tiebreaker games and conference matchups, even in the first half of the schedule.

The East feels a bit more top-heavy, but that just makes the Play-In scramble even more heated. Teams in the 7–10 range know that a short winning streak can catapult them into a safer seed, while a losing streak could have front offices contemplating trades sooner rather than later.

Looking ahead, there are a few must-watch clashes on the schedule that will ripple through the NBA standings. A potential Finals preview if the Celtics cross paths with a Western contender, a high-stakes showdown between the Lakers and a young upstart squad, and a marquee duel where Curry and another MVP candidate trade haymakers from downtown will all serve as measuring sticks.

Fans should keep an eye on back-to-backs and travel spots, too. Fatigue is already testing depth charts, and trap games pop up when contenders walk into motivated underdogs’ arenas. Every upset win or surprise blowout reshapes how we talk about the top tier, the bubble, and the Play-In picture.

The only guarantee: the standings will keep shifting. If last night’s box scores proved anything, it is that no lead in this league feels safe, no middle-tier seed can relax, and no MVP candidate can afford even a short slump. Stay locked in; the next wave of statement wins, breakout performances, and playoff-positioning swings is already loading.