Rockets Locked for Fifth Seed, Will Face Lakers or Nuggets in NBA Playoffs

The Houston Rockets' winning streak was snapped at eight games on Friday in a 136-132 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. All good things must come to an end, and while the Rockets suffered a tough defeat in their second-to-last home game of the season, they can at least look back at the last two weeks and have legitimate hope heading into the playoffs.

But with this loss, Houston is locked into the Western Conference's fifth seed. The Rockets (51-30) are one game behind the Lakers (52-29), but Los Angeles took the season series after back-to-back wins in Houston in March. Even if they won their final game and the Lakers lost, the Rockets would still be No. 5 in the conference.

But that doesn't mean Houston is officially facing Los Angeles in round one of the playoffs.

The Denver Nuggets are one game up on the Lakers for the West's third seed, but they lost the season series 2-1. If the Nuggets lose to the San Antonio Spurs and the Lakers defeat the Utah Jazz on Sunday, then the Rockets will face Denver in round one. But no matter the opponent, they will not have home-court advantage.

Houston will face the Memphis Grizzlies at the Toyota Center in its final game of the regular season. With a win, the Rockets would tie last year's record at 52-30, their best mark since 2019 (53-29).

For the second-straight season, Houston will make the playoffs, but this year's conference is more top-heavy than the last. The Rockets were the second seed last season, but even if they tie that record, they're three spots lower.

The Oklahoma City Thunder are once again the top dogs in the NBA, but the Spurs took a major leap after a few seasons in a rebuild. Like the Rockets and Thunder, they drafted a plethora of names that have developed into current and future stars.

Oklahoma City is favored to come out of the West, but the five other teams locked into a playoff seed are getting attention as legitimate contenders for a deep run. Houston has shown its weaknesses, but its most recent winning streak gave fans legitimate hope for the future. The Rockets have been third in the league in offensive rating since March 26.

The playoffs begin on April 18, but the Rockets' opponent is yet to be determined. They'll be watching Sunday's slate closely to find out where they'll be traveling to.