NBA Standings shakeup: Jokic, Tatum and LeBron drive chaotic race at the top
31.01.2026 - 13:57:31
The NBA standings tightened again last night, with Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum and LeBron James all putting their fingerprints on a slate that felt a lot more like April than January. Contenders flexed, fringe teams stumbled and the margin for error in both conferences shrank to almost nothing.
[Check live stats & scores here]
In Denver, Jokic once again turned a regular-season game into his own personal clinic. In Boston, Tatum kept the Celtics machine humming at the top of the East. Out West, LeBron and the Lakers clawed out a grind-it-out win they simply could not afford to drop, while Stephen Curry and the Warriors continued their roller-coaster act on the edge of the play-in picture. It all adds up to a standings board that looks more volatile by the day.
Game recap: Jokic dominates, Tatum steady, LeBron survives another grind
Start with Denver. The Nuggets did what defending champs are supposed to do: impose their will. Jokic anchored everything with another monster all-around line, stuffing the box score with well over 25 points, double-digit rebounds and his usual slick dime work. He controlled tempo, punished switches and repeatedly dragged slower bigs into uncomfortable space.
Every time the opponent threatened a run, Jokic answered out of the high post. He picked apart traps, kicked out to shooters spotting up from downtown and lived at the rim when defenders sagged. It was the sort of quiet dominance that barely feels like a highlight reel, right up until you look at the final player stats and realize he has a double-double before the fourth quarter even starts.
In Boston, the Celtics kept looking like the most complete outfit in the league. Tatum’s night was the definition of star stability: efficient scoring in the mid-20s to low-30s, a handful of boards, secondary playmaking and the kind of late-clock shot creation that flattens even the best half-court defense. Jaylen Brown filled in the gaps downhill, while the Celtics’ switching on the perimeter forced tough contested jumpers all night.
Tatum’s postgame tone matched the performance: no over-the-top celebration, just the look of a superstar who understands this is a marathon. “We like where we are in the standings, but we’re nowhere close to satisfied,” he said in essence. It felt like a warning shot to the rest of the East more than a victory lap.
Out in Los Angeles, the Lakers leaned on LeBron in classic fashion. The pace crawled, the whistles piled up, and the game turned into a possession-by-possession slugfest. James methodically hunted mismatches, bullying smaller defenders in the post, walking into pull-up threes when bigs sagged, and putting constant pressure on the rim to generate free throws.
Anthony Davis did the dirty work on the glass and as a backline anchor, but it was LeBron in crunchtime, manipulating the defense, calling for screens until he got the switch he wanted and either finishing at the rim or spraying the ball out to shooters in the corners. The final margin was slim, but in a packed Western playoff picture, it feels massive.
For the Warriors, the script was familiar. Curry had his usual gravity, warping the defense the second he crossed halfcourt and drilling deep threes from well beyond the arc. But inconsistency around him kept the game closer than it needed to be. One quarter they looked like a vintage contender, the next like a lottery team. The box score told the story: Curry with a strong scoring night, but secondary scoring and defense coming and going in waves.
NBA standings snapshot: contenders, climbers and teams in trouble
All those results fed straight into an already tense NBA standings board. At the top of the Eastern Conference, Boston remain the pace-setters. In the West, Denver sit firmly in the mix near the summit, with Oklahoma City and Minnesota still hovering right there in the elite tier. Below them, separation is minimal: one good week can rocket you into the home-court conversation, one bad road trip can dump you into play-in chaos.
Here is a compact look at where several key teams sit right now in the conference playoff picture, based on the latest official records from NBA.com and ESPN:
| Seed | Team | W | L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | 37 | 11 | .771 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 33 | 15 | .688 |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 30 | 17 | .638 |
| 4 | New York Knicks | 29 | 17 | .630 |
| 5 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 28 | 17 | .622 |
That is the teeth of the East. Boston have a small but meaningful cushion, while Milwaukee and a Joel Embiid–led Sixers group are fighting for that 2-seed and a cleaner playoff path. The Knicks have surged behind a more physical defense and a rejuvenated Jalen Brunson, and the Cavaliers have quietly climbed back into the conversation with a deep, balanced rotation.
In the West, the picture looks just as vicious at the top:
| Seed | Team | W | L | Win% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 32 | 14 | .696 |
| 2 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 32 | 14 | .696 |
| 3 | Denver Nuggets | 32 | 15 | .681 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 30 | 15 | .667 |
| 5 | Phoenix Suns | 26 | 18 | .591 |
Denver’s latest win keeps them within striking distance of the 1-seed despite heavy minutes for Jokic. The Thunder and Wolves have not blinked, and the Clippers’ small-ball, switch-heavy lineups have them playing some of the best basketball in the league. Phoenix sit in that dangerous zone: clearly talented, clearly flawed, and one bad week away from slipping into a brutal first-round matchup.
Below that tier sit the chaos merchants. The Lakers and Warriors are hovering around the play-in line, every night swinging between momentum and meltdown. One three-game win streak propels them toward the 6-seed; one skid and suddenly they are fighting to even stay in the 10. That is why every late January possession is starting to feel like April.
MVP race: Jokic and Embiid set the bar, Tatum and LeBron keep pushing
The player stats fueling this entire standings battle make the MVP race as heated as it has been in years. Jokic continues to stack absurd all-around lines: roughly 26 points, 12 rebounds and 9 assists per game on elite efficiency, orchestrating the Nuggets offense like a point guard in a center’s body. His case is built as much on control as on raw numbers. When he sits, Denver look mortal. When he plays, they look like champions.
Embiid, however, has been on a statistical rampage. Night after night he is hanging 30-plus points, double-digit rebounds and 5+ assists, often in three quarters of work. The Playoff Picture in the East revolves around his health as much as any game plan. When he is right, Philadelphia can beat anyone home or away. When he is out, their offense becomes a lot more predictable and the defense loses its anchor.
Tatum belongs firmly in that discussion too. His scoring average in the high 20s, plus improved playmaking and defense, make him the engine of the league’s best record. His nights rarely feel like stat-padding; they feel like tone-setting. Thirty-one points on 60 percent shooting with strong on-ball defense is exactly the kind of balanced line that keeps Boston’s floor sky-high.
LeBron’s numbers are vintage in context. For a player in his 21st season to hover around 25 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists on efficient shooting is insane. He may not play every night like he once did, but when the Lakers need him, he still shifts the geometry of the floor. That was obvious again in this latest grind: the game slowed, the ball found his hands and the defense had no good answers.
Further down the ballot, Curry remains a one-man offensive ecosystem. Even on nights when the box score shows him in the mid-20s instead of the high-30s, his gravity creates easy layups and open threes for teammates. The problem: Golden State’s defense and inconsistency keep undermining his brilliance. MVP voters rarely reward production that does not translate to a top-end seed in the NBA standings.
Injuries, depth charts and the next wave of drama
The news cycle behind all this scoreboard drama is equally influential. Around the league, key stars and starters are dancing in and out of the lineup, reshaping rotations and ceilings overnight. Teams like the Clippers and Suns are still tinkering with closing fives; others are simply begging the injury report for stability.
Coaches admitted as much after last night’s action. Several talked, in essence, about how January is where habits are built or broken. One Western coach sounded almost exasperated when he noted that his group “can look like a conference finalist one quarter and a lottery team the next.” That volatility shows up on the stat sheet, but it lives first in effort, focus and rotations.
Rival executives are also eyeballing the trade landscape, watching every wobble and win. A team like the Lakers, sitting in that 7–10 zone, knows another two-week slump could force an aggressive move. The Warriors, staring at the same play-in cloud, are in a similar boat. Front offices are effectively weighing whether to double down around their legends or accept that the window is closing faster than anyone expected.
On the flip side, a surprise climber like Oklahoma City can afford to be patient. With Shai Gilgeous-Alexander already playing at an MVP-adjacent level and Chet Holmgren flashing elite two-way upside, the Thunder are ahead of schedule. Every win reinforces their belief that they can mature into a long-term powerhouse instead of selling off assets for a quick fix.
What’s next: must-watch games and how the standings could flip again
The next few nights are loaded with games that could swing the playoff picture. Any clash between Boston and another East contender like Milwaukee or Philadelphia becomes must-see television not just for the star power, but for the potential tiebreaker impact. Out West, matchups involving Denver, Oklahoma City, Minnesota and the Clippers have the same feel: every head-to-head win moves you a half-step closer to home court in a brutal conference.
For fans, the assignment is simple: track both the live scores and the context. A random Tuesday road loss might look harmless in the box score, but when you zoom out and see how tightly bunched seeds 4–10 are, it hits differently. One ankle tweak, one hot shooting week or one brutal back-to-back can change your entire month.
The NBA standings today reflect power and potential, but they are not set in stone. Jokic and Embiid are still trading haymakers in the MVP race, Tatum is trying to lock down the league’s best record, and LeBron is grinding to keep the Lakers in the hunt. With the All-Star break looming and the trade deadline around the corner, the only true certainty is that this race is nowhere near decided.
Stay locked in, circle the heavyweight showdowns on your calendar and keep that live scoreboard handy. The next wild swing in the standings might be only one overtime thriller away.
