Rockets Locked No. 5

Houston is locked into the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed and will start the 2026 playoffs on the road, regardless of what happens Sunday. (nba.com) The National Basketball Association listed the Rockets among the teams with a confirmed seed after Friday’s games, with Houston at 51-30 and Minnesota already locked at No. 6. (nba.com, nba.com) Houston’s first-round opponent was still unsettled entering Sunday, because the No. 3 and No. 4 seeds in the West had not been finalized. The bracket on April 11 showed Denver at No. 3 and the Los Angeles Lakers at No. 4, with Houston slotted against the No. 4 seed. (nba.com) The Lakers clinched a top-four seed Friday, but they could still move to No. 3 with a win over Utah on April 12 and a Denver loss to San Antonio. If that happens, Denver would slide to No. 4 and draw Houston instead. (cbssports.com, espn.com) That left the Rockets with one clear fact and one open question on the final day of the regular season: their seed was fixed, but their matchup was not. The difference matters because the No. 4 team gets home-court advantage in a best-of-seven first round. (nba.com, nba.com) Houston reached this point after a Friday loss to Minnesota, a result that ended any path to No. 4 even as Amen Thompson scored a career-high 41 points on 17-for-22 shooting. (rocketswire.usatoday.com, cbssports.com) The postseason calendar is already set. The SoFi Play-In Tournament runs April 14 through April 17, and the first round of the National Basketball Association playoffs begins April 18. (nba.com) Houston still had one regular-season game left Sunday against Memphis, but that result could no longer move the Rockets off the No. 5 line. By the end of the night, they would know whether the road opener is against the Lakers or the Nuggets. (espn.com, nba.com)