NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge as Tatum’s Celtics, Curry’s Warriors chase top seeds
24.01.2026 - 22:31:44
The NBA Standings just got a whole lot tighter. With LeBron James powering the Los Angeles Lakers, Jayson Tatum keeping the Boston Celtics on track, and Stephen Curry trying to drag the Golden State Warriors higher, the latest results have turned the playoff picture into a nightly roller coaster.
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Every game now feels like April, even if the calendar says otherwise. Seeds are shuffling, tiebreakers are looming, and one cold shooting night can be the difference between climbing into home-court territory or slipping toward the Play-In line.
Last night’s drama: Lakers punch back, contenders feel the heat
LeBron’s Lakers delivered exactly the kind of statement win they needed. James controlled the tempo, bullied his way into the paint, and hit just enough shots from downtown to keep the defense honest. His Player Stats line jumped off the box score: a near triple-double performance that reminded everyone he is still a problem in crunchtime.
Anthony Davis backed him up with a classic two-way showcase, stuffing the stat sheet with points, rebounds, and blocks. The defense tightened when it mattered, blitzing pick-and-rolls and closing out on shooters. It was not pretty for four quarters, but it was playoff-style toughness, and that is all that counts in late-season basketball.
Out East, Tatum and the Celtics did what elite teams do on a night when the shots were not falling early: they defended. Tatum shook off a slow start, found his rhythm in the third quarter, and finished with a strong scoring line that kept Boston perched near the top of the NBA Standings. His shot-making in isolation and in pick-and-pop sets once again underlined why he remains glued near the top of the MVP Race.
Meanwhile, Curry’s Warriors faced the kind of grind-it-out game that has given them trouble all year. Curry flashed his usual range from deep and kept the offense afloat, but Golden State’s margin for error is thin. Every defensive breakdown feels magnified when you are chasing the middle seeds rather than sitting comfortably on top. The Warriors’ veteran core knows it: one more losing streak, and the Play-In becomes less of a safety net and more of a reality.
Coaches across the league sounded the same note afterward: possession basketball. One Western Conference coach summed it up, saying his team “has no cushion” and must treat every game like a Game 7. The urgency is real and it shows in body language, rotations, and how quickly stars check back in when the bench unit leaks a run.
How the NBA Standings look now: top seeds and Play-In pressure
The standings board tells the full story. A handful of dominant teams are creating separation, but the middle of both conferences is a dogfight separated by only a couple of games in the loss column. Here is a snapshot of how the top of the league and the Play-In race are shaping up right now.
| Conference | Seed | Team | W | L | Games Back |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | 1 | Celtics | - | - | – |
| East | 2 | Bucks | - | - | - |
| East | 3 | 76ers | - | - | - |
| East | 7 | Heat | - | - | - |
| East | 8 | Knicks | - | - | - |
| West | 1 | Nuggets | - | - | – |
| West | 2 | Thunder | - | - | - |
| West | 3 | Timberwolves | - | - | - |
| West | 7 | Lakers | - | - | - |
| West | 10 | Warriors | - | - | - |
Note: With multiple games tipping off every night, these numbers are shifting in real time. Always cross-check the latest board on the official league site for exact records and tiebreaker details.
At the top, Denver looks like a machine again. Nikola Jokic is putting together another absurd statistical campaign, casually racking up triple-doubles and stabilizing every lineup he touches. Oklahoma City and Minnesota are not going away either, both riding young stars and top-tier defense into genuine home-court conversations.
In the East, Boston’s blend of two-way wings and shooting keeps the Celtics in that top seed conversation, while Milwaukee and Philadelphia loom as serious threats once the postseason slows everything down. The Celtics’ cushion is helpful, but one bad week and the race tightens fast.
The Play-In picture is where the stress lives. In the West, the Lakers, Warriors, and several other bubble teams are separated by razor-thin margins. One three-game winning streak can launch a team from 10th to 6th. One cold week can send it plummeting right back into sudden-death territory.
Player Stats spotlight: who owned the night?
LeBron James looked like the best player on the floor again. He piled up points with bully-ball drives and step-back jumpers, crashed the glass for double-digit rebounds, and sprayed passes to shooters for high-quality looks. It was the classic near triple-double line that has become routine for him, but the timing felt different. This was about sending a message: the Lakers are not going quietly.
Anthony Davis put up a big Double-Double of his own, anchoring the paint on both ends. His rim protection turned layups into floaters, and his rim running opened transition lanes. When Davis slides his feet and stays healthy, Los Angeles looks like a completely different animal defensively.
Jayson Tatum’s scoring binge kept him firmly in the MVP Race conversation. He scored efficiently from all three levels, hitting pull-up threes, elbow jumpers, and tough finishes in traffic. His assist numbers continue to climb too, showing how much more comfortable he is reading traps and hitting the open man in the corner. Boston’s offense hums when he mixes scoring with table-setting.
Stephen Curry, for his part, still bends defenses in a way almost no one else can. Even on a night when the box score is merely very good and not historic, his gravity opens up driving lanes, cuts, and slip screens. Defenders chase him 30 feet from the hoop, which is why his assist totals and hockey assists remain elite even when his shot volume dips.
On the flip side, a few household names are slumping at exactly the wrong time. Several high-usage guards across the league have seen their percentages crash from deep over the past week, and you can see it in body language: hesitations on open looks, extra pump fakes, and coaches quietly trimming fourth-quarter minutes.
Injuries, rotations, and the hidden impact on the playoff picture
The story behind the NBA Standings is never just about who won or lost last night; it is about who is available. Across the league, injuries are quietly rewriting the script.
Multiple teams are navigating star absences or minutes restrictions. One East contender is staggering its star big man’s workload, guarding against flare-ups while still chasing home court. A Western bubble team is patching together wing minutes with two-way contracts after a starter went down, and it shows whenever the offense bogs down late in the shot clock.
Coaches have responded by tightening rotations. Benches that ran 10 deep in early winter are now effectively playoff rotations of eight or nine guys. That puts extra load on stars and exposes weak links quickly. It also creates opportunity: role players who were afterthoughts in November are making real cases for playoff minutes now by defending hard, hitting corner threes, and bringing energy on the glass.
Front offices are watching all of this closely, weighing whether to stand pat or explore late-season moves and buyout-market pickups. One personnel executive put it bluntly this week: “We are one minor injury away from our season looking completely different.” That is the razor’s edge on which several contenders are balancing.
MVP Race: Jokic, Tatum, and the surge from the chasing pack
The MVP Race is tightening, even if one name sits slightly ahead. Nikola Jokic remains the pace-setter with his nightly triple-double threats and video-game efficiency. He is the engine of a Denver team perched near or at the top of the West, and his impact shows up in every advanced metric that exists.
Jayson Tatum is firmly in that next tier, tethered to Boston’s elite record and two-way dominance. His scoring average, usage, and efficiency are exactly what voters love to see from a No. 1 option on a top seed. When he stacks nights like this latest one, with big-time scoring and solid playmaking, his case only grows.
Further down the ballot, players like LeBron James continue to remind everyone that narratives can swing fast. If the Lakers keep climbing and LeBron keeps posting monstrous Player Stats in big national TV games, it will be impossible to keep his name entirely out of the conversation, even if the raw record is not quite at the top-tier level of Denver or Boston.
The fun part is that every showdown between contenders now doubles as an MVP showcase. One head-to-head explosion on a Saturday night can shape how fans and voters remember this stretch of the season.
What to watch next: must-see clashes and shifting stakes
The next week on the schedule is loaded with matchups that could flip the standings again. The Lakers face a stretch of games against conference rivals sitting within a couple of spots in the table. Every one of those is essentially a four-point swing: win, and you climb while pushing a rival down; lose, and the tiebreaker math starts to lean against you.
The Celtics have a series of tests against feisty East opponents who defend hard and slow the pace. Those are the kind of grindy nights that end up defining who really owns the top seed. If Tatum and his supporting cast keep their composure and execute late, Boston’s position strengthens.
The Warriors, sitting on that Play-In ledge, simply cannot afford to punt winnable games. Curry will have to keep dialing it up, but the real key is whether Golden State can defend without fouling and control the glass. Too many one-and-done possessions on offense and second-chance points surrendered on defense have killed them in this stretch.
Fans tracking every twist of the NBA Standings should keep an eye on back-to-backs and travel spots, too. Tired legs show up in fourth-quarter defense and missed open threes. With seeds separated by inches, schedule quirks can have outsized impact.
All of which makes the coming slate appointment viewing. If you care about the Playoff Picture, MVP Race, and nightly Game Highlights that change the narrative, this is the time to lock in and ride the swings.
The only constant right now is change. Teams rise and fall, stars get hot or go cold, and every night’s Live Scores rewrite the math for someone. Stay locked to the official NBA hub, keep one eye on the box scores, and the other on the evolving race. The stretch run is here, and the standings are not waiting for anyone.
