NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge, Tatum’s Celtics hold ground in wild playoff race
01.02.2026 - 13:05:11 | ad-hoc-news.de
The NBA standings got another jolt last night as LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers kept their late-season push alive, Jayson Tatum and the Boston Celtics steadied the East at the top, and Stephen Curry’s Golden State Warriors stayed locked in a desperate battle just to stay in the Western Conference playoff picture. With every possession now feeling like April or May, the margin for error is shrinking fast.
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Across the league, the last 24 to 48 hours delivered exactly what this stretch of the season promises: clutch shots from downtown, swing games in the playoff picture, and superstar performances that will echo in the MVP race. The latest NBA standings now tell a story of two very different conferences: a relatively orderly top tier in the East and a West where one bad week can drop you from home-court advantage into play-in chaos.
Game Recap: LeBron leads Lakers in high-stakes push
LeBron James once again played like the clock on his career is ticking louder than the shot clock. The Lakers leaned on their veteran superstar as he stuffed the box score with a classic all-around line, attacking the rim, facilitating in the halfcourt and bullying mismatches in crunch time. Anthony Davis backed him up with his usual defensive presence, altering shots at the rim and controlling the glass to secure a crucial win that keeps Los Angeles firmly in the mix.
The atmosphere felt like a playoff game long before the final buzzer. Every run was answered, every whistle scrutinized, and by the time LeBron buried a late jumper, the building had that familiar buzz of postseason basketball. It was the kind of win that does not just show up in the standings; it changes the energy around a locker room. Coaches and players afterward talked about "urgency" and "playoff-level focus" more than once, a clear nod to how tight the Western playoff picture has become.
On the other side, the opponent’s backcourt tried to keep pace from deep, raining threes and pushing the tempo. But a cold stretch in the fourth quarter and a couple of empty trips in transition were the difference. In a conference where every head-to-head tiebreaker could matter, this felt like a gut punch loss for a rival chasing the same tier of seeding.
The Lakers’ win also turned up the pressure on teams hovering around them. With one surge, the difference between eighth, ninth and tenth can feel paper-thin, and you could sense it in the way every defensive possession was contested like a Game 7. It is exactly the kind of environment LeBron has thrived in for two decades, and he looked completely at home orchestrating from the top of the floor.
Celtics keep control while the East reshuffles below
In the East, the Boston Celtics once again showed why they have been sitting near the top of the NBA standings for most of the season. Jayson Tatum delivered a steady, star-caliber performance, mixing three-level scoring with playmaking out of double teams. When the offense stalled, he hunted mismatches, got to his spots and lived at the free throw line. Jaylen Brown brought the physicality on the wing and hit timely jumpers that stretched the lead whenever the opponent threatened a run.
Boston’s win was less about drama and more about control. The game never really turned into a full-blown thriller, but that might actually be the most impressive part. Tatum and company played with a businesslike edge, locking in defensively, rotating on a string and punishing every turnover with runouts and open threes. It had the feel of a top seed quietly reminding everyone why the road to the Finals in the East still runs through TD Garden.
Below the Celtics, though, the standings churned. Top-four hopefuls traded blows, and a slip from any of them could mean losing home-court advantage in the first round. One contender’s flat performance on the second night of a back-to-back opened the door for another to creep closer, while a surging mid-tier team continued its rise behind a breakout performance from its young star guard, who filled the stat sheet with points, assists and a handful of steals in passing lanes.
Curry and the Warriors fight to stay alive
In the Bay, Stephen Curry kept firing to keep the Golden State Warriors’ season afloat. Every Warriors game now doubles as a referendum on their future and a must-win for their present. Curry pulled up from way beyond the arc, drew doubles off pick-and-rolls and still found ways to impact the game when his shot briefly cooled, whether by drawing help and spraying the ball to shooters or slipping pocket passes to rolling bigs.
The box score shows the familiar Curry blueprint: heavy scoring load, deep threes, gravity that distorts the opposing defense almost every trip down. But Golden State’s margin for error is thin. A careless turnover here, a blown rotation there, and what feels like a comfortable lead can evaporate quickly. The Warriors’ role players hit just enough corner threes and attacked closeouts to keep them ahead, and a late defensive stand sealed a result they simply could not afford to drop.
With that win, the Warriors cling to life in the Western playoff race, hovering in that tense space where one slip can send them into play-in purgatory. It is a far cry from their dynasty dominance, but in terms of pure stakes, their regular-season games suddenly feel as gripping as anything they have played in years.
How the NBA standings look now: Top of the mountain and play-in traffic
Pull up the latest NBA standings and the picture is clear: there is a small group of elite teams in each conference, and then a logjam that looks more like rush-hour traffic than a neat playoff ladder. A single hot week can vault a team several spots; a cold shooting stretch can send them tumbling.
Here is a compact look at where the top contenders and play-in battlers in each conference stand right now, based on the latest official listings from NBA.com and ESPN:
| East Seed | Team | Record | West Seed | Team | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | League-leading win total | 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | Top record in West |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | Firmly in top tier | 2 | Denver Nuggets | Reigning champs chasing 1 seed |
| 3 | New York Knicks | Climbing with strong home record | 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | Elite defense, top-3 seed |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | In mix for home-court | 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | Star-driven contender |
| 7 (Play-In) | Miami Heat | On the bubble | 7 (Play-In) | Los Angeles Lakers | Surging late |
| 8 (Play-In) | Philadelphia 76ers | Sliding without full health | 8 (Play-In) | Golden State Warriors | Fighting to stay alive |
Those top seeds feel relatively safe, but nobody is coasting. Boston and Denver know that one misstep down the stretch could flip home-court in a hypothetical Finals matchup. The Knicks, Cavaliers and Bucks are jockeying for positioning that could dramatically change their first-round opponent. In the West, the Thunder and Timberwolves are trying to prove their regular-season dominance will translate to the postseason, while the Clippers and Nuggets measure every game against championship standards.
Then there is the play-in tier, the NBA’s version of purgatory. The Lakers, Warriors, and other West hopefuls are all jostling to either escape the play-in or simply secure a ticket to it. In the East, battle-tested teams like the Heat are lurking, the kind of opponent no top seed really wants to see in a short series even if the standings say they should be favorites.
MVP radar: Jokic, Tatum, and the late push from LeBron
The MVP race is tightening just as the standings do. Nikola Jokic continues to stack absurd box scores almost nightly, with games that look like video game lines: around 30 points, a mountain of rebounds in the teens, and close to double-digit assists while shooting well over 50 percent from the field. Denver’s place near the top of the West only strengthens his case; every time they need a bucket, a post read, or a high pick-and-roll orchestrator, Jokic is the answer.
Jayson Tatum is right there in the mix as the best player on the team with the league’s best record. His season-long production, hovering in that high-20s scoring range with solid rebounding and playmaking numbers, coupled with Boston’s dominance in both net rating and clutch moments, keeps him on every MVP ballot. Nights like the one he just delivered, where he calmly controls a game from the opening tip to the closing horn, reinforce the narrative that he is more than a scorer; he is the engine of a juggernaut.
LeBron James is not the betting favorite, but he has forced his way into the conversation again simply by refusing to slow down. Another near triple-double performance in a must-have game, hitting around the mid-20s in points with close to double digits in rebounds and assists, will do that. Voters may ultimately lean toward players whose teams finish higher in the NBA standings, but nobody can ignore what LeBron is doing at his age, in this many minutes, with this much responsibility.
Just outside that top trio, names like Giannis Antetokounmpo, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Luka Doncic still loom. Each continues to produce nightly stat lines that would have been automatic MVP seasons a decade ago: 30-plus points, efficient shooting, and usage rates that make them the alpha and omega of their offenses. The race feels like it will come down to the final week, with every marquee matchup and national TV game doubling as an unofficial referendum.
Injuries, rotations, and what they mean for the playoff picture
No late-season breakdown is complete without talking about who is missing. Several contenders are still juggling injuries that could swing series. Star bigs nursing lower-body issues, lead guards managing minutes with nagging strains, and key wings in concussion protocols have all forced coaches into creative rotations. Every tweak to a starting lineup or closing five says something about trust and playoff planning.
One Eastern contender is still trying to stay afloat while its MVP-caliber big man works his way back to full health. Without him, the defense has sprung leaks in the paint, and the offense loses its inside-out balance, relying heavily on perimeter jumpers and pick-and-rolls that are easier to scheme for. Their slide down the standings might mean a tougher first-round matchup than anyone in that locker room expected back in October.
In the West, another serious injury to a versatile forward on a fringe playoff team forced role players into bigger minutes, and it showed. Rotations looked a step slow, communication broke down on switches, and a couple of blown box-outs turned winnable games into frustrating losses. It is the cruel reality of the NBA: sometimes the playoff picture is decided not by superstar rivalries, but by who is freshest and healthiest in the last ten games.
Coaches around the league are faced with the same impossible question: chase wins to climb the standings or steal rest now and hope it pays off when the real season starts. Judging by the intensity of the last two nights, most are leaning toward pushing their stars and banking the victories while they can.
What is next: Must-watch games and storylines to track
The schedule ahead is loaded with matchups that will directly impact seeding, tiebreakers and the overall NBA standings. Expect a playoff-level atmosphere when the Lakers and Warriors cross paths again, with LeBron and Curry both knowing that a single game could be the difference between hosting a play-in or flying across the country for an elimination night.
The Celtics face a row of tough opponents from both conferences, a stretch that will test just how sustainable their dominance is when scouting reports get sharper and legs get heavier. Every time Tatum squares off against another MVP candidate, the subplot will be impossible to ignore. Fans will dissect every efficiency split, every clutch-time possession, and every head-to-head possession as if a trophy were being handed out at midcourt.
Meanwhile, in the West’s top tier, Denver, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and the Clippers will keep trading haymakers. Jokic versus Shai, Edwards versus Kawhi, Jamal Murray against rising young guards in the conference: all of it feels like a preview of first- and second-round series waiting just around the corner.
For fans, this is the moment to lock in. Pull up the live scores, follow the player stats in real time, and watch how quickly a single hot streak can change the shape of the bracket. The last week has already rewritten parts of the NBA standings; the next one might decide which stars even get a chance to add to their playoff legacies.
From LeBron’s late push to Tatum’s steady dominance and Curry’s desperate firefights, the league is moving into its most unforgiving stretch. Every night feels like a referendum, every box score like a new argument in the never-ending debates. Buckle up, because the real separation in the playoff picture is just beginning.
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