Rockets locked at No. 5
Houston finished the regular season locked into the No. 5 seed but remained focused on which opponent they’d draw in the first round, with team sources saying they have a preferred match‑up. (Sports Illustrated reported the Rockets’ position and their interest in manipulating seed outcomes via final‑day results.) (si.com)
Houston is locked into the Western Conference’s No. 5 seed and will open the 2026 playoffs on the road against either the Los Angeles Lakers or the Denver Nuggets. (nba.com) The Rockets fell to 51-30 on Friday after a 136-132 loss to Minnesota, and that result ended their path to moving up the bracket. Los Angeles sits at 52-29 with the tiebreaker over Houston after winning the season series. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Denver entered Sunday at 53-28, the Lakers at 52-29 and Houston at 51-30, leaving the No. 4 seed unsettled but the No. 5 seed fixed. That means Houston’s only remaining playoff variable was which opponent would finish fourth. (foxsports.com) (usatoday.com) That is why the final day mattered even after Houston’s seeding was set. Sports Illustrated reported that team sources said the Rockets preferred Denver over the Lakers and were watching Sunday’s results with that matchup in mind. (si.com) The preference tracks with Houston’s recent results against the two contenders. The Rockets split four regular-season games with Denver, including a win in Denver on December 20, but lost the season series to the Lakers after back-to-back home losses in March. (espn.com) (sports.yahoo.com) Houston had already secured a direct playoff berth earlier in April when Phoenix lost, ending any play-in risk. The first round begins on April 18, after the play-in tournament runs from April 14 through April 17. (sports.yahoo.com) (nba.com) The Rockets’ regular season finale still carried practical stakes beyond the standings sheet. A win would have given Houston a 52-30 finish, matching last season’s win total, even though the bracket line would not change. (sports.yahoo.com) Now the waiting is almost over: Houston knows its seed, knows it will start on the road, and only needed the West’s last unresolved top-four spot to learn whether Game 1 will be in Los Angeles or Denver. (nba.com)
