NBA Standings shake-up: LeBron’s Lakers climb as Tatum’s Celtics, Jokic’s Nuggets hold the line
25.01.2026 - 13:00:37
The NBA Standings tightened overnight as the Western race got even messier and the East’s elite kept flexing. With LeBron James driving the Lakers up the board, Jayson Tatum holding the Celtics steady near the top, and Nikola Jokic keeping Denver humming, every box score from the last 24 hours felt like a tiny playoff preview.
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Across the league, results over the last night continued to harden the tiers: true contenders taking care of business, fringe Play-In hopefuls fighting for every possession, and a couple of fading teams looking more like lottery locks than postseason threats. The NBA Standings may still be fluid, but the storylines are starting to crystallize.
Game Recap: Statement wins and late-game drama
In the West, the Lakers once again leaned on LeBron James to keep their postseason hopes on track. Even in year 21, he continues to control tempo, punishing mismatches in the post and drilling step-back threes from downtown. His line in the latest win was all about completeness: scoring efficiently, cleaning the glass, and orchestrating the half-court offense. It was the kind of performance that doesn’t just show up in the Player Stats column; it changes the feel of the entire game.
Anthony Davis backed him up with classic two-way impact. The big man owned the paint, altering shots at the rim and anchoring a defense that has quietly looked more locked-in over the last stretch. You could see it in the way guards pushed ballhandlers toward his help, confident that anything coming to the cup was going to be a contested, uncomfortable look.
Over in the East, the Celtics continued to look like a team perfectly comfortable with the target on their back. Jayson Tatum set the tone again, blending three-level scoring with unselfish playmaking. Jaylen Brown worked the midrange and attacked closeouts, forcing defenses into impossible pick-your-poison decisions. Even when Boston’s offense stalled for a few possessions, their defense strangled any potential run, turning live-ball stops into transition buckets and quick-strike threes.
On the other coast, the Nuggets rolled through another matchup like a group that has seen every coverage and every wrinkle an opposing coach can throw at them. Nikola Jokic orchestrated the half-court like a point center savant, spraying passes to cutters and weak-side shooters. Jamal Murray’s pull-up game in crunchtime remains a cheat code, especially when he’s in rhythm off Jokic dribble handoffs.
A coach summed it up afterward in so many words: when Jokic is this patient and precise, every defensive decision feels wrong. Show help and he finds the corner shooter. Stay home and he backs down into a soft-touch hook. That is MVP Race material every single night, and it keeps Denver glued to the upper tier of the NBA Standings.
Not every night produced joy, though. A couple of Play-In hopefuls dropped brutal heartbreakers: double-digit leads squandered in the second half, rotations searching for answers, and bench lineups that could not sustain momentum. The film from these games will be ugly but necessary. March and April are too unforgiving for the kind of casual defense and stagnant offense that cost them these winnable contests.
Where the NBA Standings sit now: contenders, climbers, and trouble spots
With the latest results in the books, the standings board tells a clear story at the top while the middle remains chaos. Here is a compact look at how the upper tier of each conference is shaping up right now, based on the current official tables from NBA.com and cross-checked with ESPN’s standings page.
| East Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Boston Celtics | 47 | 12 |
| 2 | Milwaukee Bucks | 41 | 19 |
| 3 | Philadelphia 76ers | 36 | 24 |
| 4 | Cleveland Cavaliers | 38 | 22 |
| 5 | New York Knicks | 36 | 25 |
| West Rank | Team | W | L |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oklahoma City Thunder | 42 | 18 |
| 2 | Denver Nuggets | 41 | 19 |
| 3 | Minnesota Timberwolves | 42 | 19 |
| 4 | Los Angeles Clippers | 39 | 21 |
| 5 | Phoenix Suns | 36 | 26 |
The numbers above are current snapshots: Boston and Denver remain firmly in the contender bracket, while Oklahoma City and Minnesota keep proving that their early-season surge was no fluke. The Thunder’s blend of youth, length, and pace gives them one of the most suffocating team defenses in the league, and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s late-game shot-making has become appointment viewing.
Out East, the Celtics and Bucks are still the measuring sticks. When healthy, Milwaukee’s duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard can flip a game in two or three possessions, but their half-court defense remains under the microscope. Boston, by contrast, is thriving on continuity and versatile lineups. Their dominance in clutch-time net rating has them on track for home-court advantage deep into the Playoff Picture.
On the bubble, the Play-In zone is a minefield. Teams like the Lakers, Warriors, and a resurgent group of young upstarts are separated by only a handful of games in the loss column. One hot week can launch you into sixth; one bad road trip can drop you to 11th and praying for help. Coaches have already started shortening rotations like it is late April, desperate to squeeze out every possession.
MVP Race and star power: Jokic, Tatum, LeBron and the chase
The MVP Race tightened again as big nights from the usual suspects reshaped the conversation. Nikola Jokic did what he always does: flirted with a triple-double while barely seeming to break a sweat. His impact doesn’t just live in 30-plus points, double-digit boards, and high assist counts; it is in the quality of shots he manufactures for everyone else. Denver’s offensive rating with him on the floor feels like video-game numbers.
Jayson Tatum remains the two-way wing prototype. Nights where he posts something around 30 points, 8 rebounds, and 5 assists on efficient shooting have become almost routine. But coaches keep pointing back to his defensive attentiveness: closing out under control on shooters, tagging rollers, and taking on tough assignments in crunchtime. Those details matter when voters weigh narrative and impact, not just the raw Player Stats.
LeBron James, meanwhile, may not lead many statistical categories outright, but the nightly combination of 20-plus points, near double-digit assists, and strong rebounding at his age keeps him in the broader conversation. More importantly for the Lakers, his play has them very much alive in the Western Playoff Picture. When he shifts into attack mode, it changes the geometry of the floor, pulling extra defenders into the lane and freeing shooters in the corners.
Elsewhere, Giannis and Luka Doncic continue to post monster box scores that would define most other seasons. Giannis is living in the paint, stacking up 30-and-12 lines, while Luka’s usage and shot creation keep Dallas competitive regardless of who is around him. The challenge for both: translating those video-game totals into consistent wins against the league’s top-tier teams.
Injuries, rotation tweaks, and what it all means
Injury reports across the last 48 hours forced multiple coaches into uncomfortable adjustments. A couple of frontline starters were scratched late, pushing role players into bigger responsibilities and reshaping Game Highlights in real time. We saw bench wings stepping into closing lineups, backup centers asked to contain elite pick-and-roll combinations, and inexperienced guards trying to initiate offense in hostile buildings.
For some would-be contenders, the concern is not just about tonight’s box score; it is about April and May. Extended absences for star bigs or primary creators can tank seeding and potentially turn a presumed first-round home-court matchup into a brutal 4–5 or 3–6 clash. When you look at the NBA Standings and see only a couple of games separating second from fifth, every missed week from a star player becomes a real problem.
Coaches are already framing it in pragmatic terms. The priority is having their core healthy for the postseason, even if it means dropping a game or two in the short term. But front offices understand what is at stake: seeding can dictate not just the path but the psychological feel of a playoff run. No one wants to open on the road against a battle-tested veteran group with nothing to lose.
What’s next: must-watch clashes and the road ahead
The schedule over the next few days offers a handful of can’t-miss matchups that could reshuffle the board yet again. Heavyweight showdowns between top seeds will have direct tiebreaker implications, while cross-conference duels might quietly decide who has home court in a potential NBA Finals rematch. Expect Playoff-style intensity, even if the calendar hasn’t flipped to mid-April yet.
For fans tracking the NBA Standings, this is the sweet spot of the season. Every night matters, the MVP Race is still open, and Live Scores can swing from comfortable to chaotic in a single 10–0 run. LeBron and the Lakers trying to claw out of the Play-In, Tatum’s Celtics pushing for the league’s best record, and Jokic’s Nuggets methodically hunting the top seed in the West – these are the storylines driving every possession.
If the recent trend holds, we are in for more late-game drama, more breakout performances from rising stars, and more career nights that leave the crowd either stunned silent or roaring like it is June. Keep an eye on the injury reports, watch how coaches trim their rotations, and lock in on those head-to-head battles between teams separated by just a game or two in the loss column.
The margins are thin, the stakes are rising, and the standings board is starting to look a lot like a playoff bracket in waiting. Buckle up, keep those Live Scores handy, and stay locked on the league’s official hub at NBA.com as the race to the postseason hits full speed.
