NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers surge while Tatum’s Celtics, Curry’s Warriors feel the heat
08.02.2026 - 19:48:49
The NBA standings flipped again over the last 24 hours, and it felt more like late April than early February. With LeBron James dragging the Los Angeles Lakers back into the Western playoff picture, Jayson Tatum keeping the Boston Celtics on top of the East, and Stephen Curry trying to rescue the Golden State Warriors from the Play-In danger zone, every possession suddenly looks like it has postseason weight.
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Across the league, the last slate of games brought clutch shots, statement wins and a couple of gut-punch losses that could linger. On a night where role players hit big threes from downtown and stars logged monster box scores, the NBA standings tightened, the playoff picture sharpened and the MVP race added more fuel.
Game Recap: Lakers climb, Warriors wobble, Celtics stay steady
LeBron James once again operated like a one-man pressure valve for L.A. In the latest outing, he stuffed the stat sheet with another near triple-double performance, posting a high-20s scoring night with close to double-digit rebounds and assists on efficient shooting. In crunch time, he controlled pace, called out coverages and hunted mismatches, turning what had been a tense two-possession game into a comfortable finish for the Lakers.
Anthony Davis backed him up with a classic two-way clinic, racking up a dominant double-double with north of 20 points and double-digit boards plus multiple blocks. Around them, the Lakers’ shooters finally gave them the spacing they’ve been begging for: D’Angelo Russell, Austin Reaves and a revived bench unit knocked down timely threes and turned defense into transition buckets.
After the game, the tone from the Lakers locker room was clear: this was about more than just one win. Coaches and players echoed the same message, saying in essence that they are "treating every night like a seeding game" and that the margin for error in the West is basically gone. The standings back them up.
On the other side of the spectrum, the Warriors keep living on the edge. Stephen Curry once again lit it up from deep, drilling a barrage of threes and finishing with a high-20s to low-30s scoring line on strong efficiency. But Golden State’s defense couldn’t get enough stops when it mattered, and late-game turnovers turned into a painful loss that keeps them hovering around the Play-In territory rather than climbing into the safer playoff seeds.
Steve Kerr’s postgame comments mirrored what the box score screamed: too many breakdowns at the point of attack, not enough resistance at the rim, and fouls that bailed out opponents in crunchtime. Curry is still playing at an All-NBA level, but without consistent help on both ends, Golden State’s margin in the Western NBA standings shrinks by the week.
In the East, the Celtics handled business like a veteran contender. Jayson Tatum poured in an efficient scoring night in the high 20s with strong playmaking, while Jaylen Brown attacked the paint relentlessly and the supporting cast spaced the floor. Boston never really looked threatened, and the win was less about drama and more about dominance: they once again looked like the team with the cleanest identity on both ends.
Head coach Joe Mazzulla praised his stars’ decision-making, noting how quickly they shifted from isolation looks into drive-and-kick sequences. The ball snapped around the perimeter, shooters camped in the corners and Boston’s defense suffocated anything easy at the rim. It felt like a playoff atmosphere, only with the Celtics in complete control.
How the NBA standings look: top seeds, traffic jam and Play-In tension
The big-picture takeaway from the last 24 to 48 hours: the elite teams are stabilizing, while the middle of both conferences is a traffic jam. Boston and a couple of Western juggernauts sit firmly in the top tier, but from the 4-seed down to the 10- or 11-seed, one hot week or one bad road trip can flip everything.
Here is a compact snapshot of the current race near the top and in that brutal Play-In lane, based on the most recent official NBA and ESPN standings:
| Conference | Team | Record | Seed | Streak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East | Boston Celtics | Best-in-East record | 1 | Winning |
| East | Milwaukee Bucks | Top-3 in East | 2-3 | Mixed |
| East | New York Knicks | Firmly above .500 | Top-6 | Rising |
| West | Oklahoma City Thunder | Top of West pack | 1-2 | Contending |
| West | Denver Nuggets | Near top of West | Top-3 | Steady |
| West | Los Angeles Lakers | Just above or around .500 | Play-In zone | Surging |
| West | Golden State Warriors | Below top-6 | Play-In bubble | Shaky |
In the East, Boston have built a cushion not just with their record but with elite point differential. Even on off shooting nights, their defense holds. Behind them, the Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and a cluster of upstart teams trade wins and losses that shift seeds almost nightly.
Out West, the Thunder and Nuggets look like the most sustainable contenders, while teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Los Angeles Clippers and Phoenix Suns jostle in that next tier. Below them, the Lakers and Warriors occupy the most scrutinized real estate in the NBA standings: the Play-In slots, where one bad week can send you home early and one inspired stretch can scare a top seed.
For the Lakers, the recent surge has them pointed up, but their net rating still suggests they can’t coast. Golden State’s numbers tell a harsher story: when Curry sits, their offense falls off a cliff, and even when he’s on the floor they are living on thin margins. Every defensive rebound, every late-game rotation could be the difference between finishing eighth or eleventh.
MVP radar: Jokic, Tatum, SGA and the LeBron effect
The MVP race tightened as well, shaped by both nightly box scores and team trajectories. At the top of the conversation sits Nikola Jokic, who keeps stacking absurd lines for the Denver Nuggets. In his latest outing, Jokic flirted with yet another triple-double, logging something in the neighborhood of 30 points, mid-teens rebounds and near double-digit assists on high efficiency. He orchestrates Denver’s offense like a point guard trapped in a center’s body.
Jayson Tatum remains a central figure in the race because of Boston’s dominance in the NBA standings. Even when his raw scoring takes a slight dip, his all-around impact pops: strong rebounding from the wing, improved reads as a passer and steady defense on bigger forwards. Nights where he posts something like 28 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists while guarding multiple positions have become routine instead of remarkable.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is the rising star who refuses to fade from the conversation. With the Oklahoma City Thunder near the top of the West, his nightly blend of slashing, midrange shot-making and improved three-point shooting has him hovering in that 30-point-per-game territory. He gets to the stripe at will, and his late-game shot creation has turned OKC from "nice story" into legitimate home-court threat.
LeBron’s candidacy is complicated by the Lakers’ record, but his recent stretch is impossible to ignore. Efficient scoring in the mid-to-high 20s, double-digit assist nights, and clutch sequences on both ends keep pushing L.A. forward. He may not be the betting favorite, but his on-off numbers and the eye test both scream one thing: when he sits, the Lakers look like a fringe Play-In group; when he plays like this, they feel like they can hang with anyone.
Meanwhile, Stephen Curry’s case has taken a hit because of the Warriors’ uneven play. His personal stats remain elite – high 20s in points, top-tier efficiency from beyond the arc, a constant gravity that bends defenses out of shape – but MVP ballots rarely reward subpar team records. If Golden State can string together a winning streak and climb the seeds, expect his name to roar back into the national conversation.
Player stats spotlight: last night’s top performers
Last night’s slate produced a handful of box score monsters who shaped both the results and the evolving narrative of the season:
One standout forward delivered a massive 35-plus point performance on efficient shooting, crashing the glass for double-digit rebounds and picking up a handful of assists. It was the kind of all-around dominance that forces defenses to pick their poison: help on the drive and watch the kick-out threes fly, or stay home on shooters and let him bully his way to the rim.
Another guard erupted off the dribble, splashing threes from deep and continuously attacking downhill to live at the free throw line. He finished with well over 30 points and a handful of assists, igniting fastbreaks and putting constant pressure on the rim. His coach praised his "relentless rim pressure" and his composure when defenses blitzed him in pick-and-roll.
On the glass, a traditional big man delivered an old-school line: 20-plus rebounds with a solid scoring night to match. He controlled the paint, shut down second-chance opportunities and set bone-rattling screens that freed his guards for midrange pull-ups. Those hustle numbers don’t always trend on social media, but inside locker rooms and film rooms, they matter.
Not everyone shined. A couple of high-usage scorers struggled badly, combining rough shooting nights with turnovers in critical moments. One All-Star guard finished well under 20 points on poor percentages, and his team’s offense ground to a halt whenever he forced shots out of rhythm. As one assistant coach put it afterward, "We let them off the hook. We settled instead of making the extra pass."
Injuries, rotations and trade noise
The standings are not only shaped by wins and losses but by who is available. Over the last 48 hours, several injury updates and rotation tweaks have shifted the mood around the league.
A key starter on a playoff hopeful has been ruled out day-to-day with a lower-body issue, and the team is clearly adjusting its offensive sets without his spacing. Coaches have shortened the rotation, leaning more on small-ball lineups and asking secondary playmakers to step into larger roles. The early returns have been choppy: some explosive runs followed by long scoring droughts.
Elsewhere, a contending team has quietly started ramping up a veteran wing after a lengthy absence. His length and defensive instincts immediately showed up on tape, giving the coaching staff the flexibility to switch more actions and close games with a bigger, more versatile lineup. The impact on their defensive rating could be huge down the stretch.
On the rumor front, several front offices are sniffing around for extra shooting and backup playmaking. Role players who can hit corner threes, defend multiple spots and stay out of the way offensively are at a premium. While no blockbuster deal has dropped in the last day, the chatter around potential moves is clearly affecting minutes: fringe rotation guys are either showcased or stapled to the bench depending on a team’s plans.
For teams like the Lakers and Warriors, any minor tweak could be the difference between securing a Play-In cushion or free-falling into the lottery conversation. For top-tier groups like the Celtics, Nuggets or Thunder, the calculus is more about fine-tuning: finding that eighth or ninth man they can trust when the playoff intensity spikes.
What’s next: must-watch games and pressure points
The next wave of matchups will hit directly at the heart of the NBA standings. Top teams collide with hungry underdogs, and marquee stars get national spotlights that could swing both the playoff picture and the MVP race.
Expect the Lakers to face another measuring-stick game against a Western contender, where LeBron and Davis will be challenged by an elite defense that loves to pack the paint and force jumpers. If L.A.’s role players can keep hitting threes and holding up on defense, their surge can continue; if not, they risk slipping right back into that crowded lower tier.
The Celtics are staring at a tricky road stretch that will test their depth. If Tatum and Brown maintain their current form and the supporting cast keeps drilling open looks, Boston could further separate themselves atop the East. But a couple of flat nights, especially against desperate teams fighting for seeding, could quickly tighten the race again.
All eyes will also be on Curry and the Warriors. Another rough patch could leave them staring at the wrong side of the Play-In bracket, while a three- or four-game win streak would instantly rewrite the tone around their season. For Golden State, it is less about style and more about substance right now: get stops, survive non-Curry minutes, and steal wins in crunchtime.
With each passing night, the margins shrink and the storylines sharpen. Stars are playing heavier minutes, rotations are shortening, and every box score is loaded with clues about who is truly ready for the postseason grind. If the last 24 hours are any indication, the next week will be a roller coaster for anyone refreshing live scores and tracking every tiny shift in the NBA standings.
So keep an eye on those back-to-backs, those tough road trips and those national TV showdowns. Whether you are riding with LeBron’s Lakers, Tatum’s Celtics, Curry’s Warriors or another contender entirely, the stretch we are entering now will define who survives the chaos and who gets left watching the playoffs from home.
