The Houston Rockets will play the Los Angeles Lakers in consecutive games on Monday and Wednesday night. The two teams are neck-and-neck in the Western Conference standings. But the season is zooming towards its conclusion at breakneck speed. The Lakers are currently the third seed at 42-25, and the Rockets are the fourth seed at 41-25. In these two games, both teams will have their playoff seeding necks on the line.

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The Last Rockets-Lakers Matchup

The Rockets and the Lakers have only played once so far this season. The Rockets defeated the Lakers at the Crypto.com Arena on Christmas Day, 119-96. Houston’s Amen Thompson was the game’s leading scorer with 26. That’s a good offensive showing from Thompson, who averages just 17.8 points per game and has had trouble in other marquee matchups. Perhaps more impressively, however, it’s a good defensive showing from the Rockets versus Luka Doncic.

Doncic was held to just 25 points on 9-for-17 shooting and seven free throw attempts. On the season, he is averaging 32.8 points per game on 22.3 shots and 10.1 free throw attempts. The Rockets didn’t allow Doncic to beat them with his playmaking either. He dimed up his teammates for just seven assists to his six turnovers. The Rockets did a good job of keeping the likes of Thompson and Tari Eason glued to him, not letting him attack mismatches versus center Alperen Sengun.

Fellow Lakers star LeBron James was also held in check by the Rockets’ defense with just 18 points. The Rockets had some help with Austin Reaves, though. The young Lakers guard had 12 points, but exited the game early with a calf injury. Seldom-used reserve Maxi Kleber is the only player listed on the Lakers’ injury report at present.

A Physicality Edge

But the Lakers didn’t just struggle offensively. The Rockets were able to beat them with cuts and physicality for easy scores all night. Steven Adams may be out for the Rockets this time around, but the team still has backup big man Clint Capela to clobber the Lakers inside. The matchup between him and LA center Deandre Ayton may be one to watch. Ayton recently made headlines (as Lakers players tend to do) for derisively remarking that the LA coaching staff was trying to turn him “into Clint Capela.” Capela responded to Ayton on his Instagram story that night.

Lakers fans probably aren’t expecting Ayton to lock in for the matchup. They’ve been wanting him to play a more physical brand of basketball all season. A player who screens hard, rolls hard, and finishes at the rim hard (like Capela) can perform miracles when empowered by Doncic’s playmaking. Ayton would rather shoot jumpers out of mid-post isolations. It does have to be said, however: if the Lakers were going to try feeding Ayton’s isolation game, then versus Sengun might be the best time to do it.

A Rockets-Lakers Standings Battle

The two teams’ remaining strength of schedule has evened out since the All-Star break. According to Tankathon, both teams are now middle-of-the-pack in that regard. The Lakers have the 15th hardest remaining strength of schedule, and the Rockets have the 18th. The Rockets had held a significant advantage, but they’ve already played versus most of their easiest opponents, with middling results to show for it.

The upcoming consecutive games will complete the regular-season series, with the teams only scheduled for three encounters in 2025-26. The Lakers would have to win them both to secure the tie-breaker. Obviously, they’d only need to win one to hold onto their current half-a-game lead.

In theory, whoever can sneak into the third seed gets a significant playoff advantage. They would get to hold off a matchup versus the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder until at least the Conference Finals. But the San Antonio Spurs look locked into the second seed at this point, and theydo not look like playoff push-overs either.

Ultimately, from a Rockets perspective, who doesn’t love the chance to beat the Lakers? For the Lakers, who are still finding their footing in the dawning Doncic era, any opportunity to see their superstar take it personally and rise above is a treat to behold. Rockets fans will certainly be hoping their players keep their mouths shut. It’s one of the few times they won’t even miss resident bear-poker Dillon Brooks. In any case, by the end of the third game, the future of the third seed should look a little clearer.

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