Just one game earlier, the Rockets were in the No. 3 spot<\/a>. But they\u2019re also only a half-game up on the No. 5 and No. 6 seeds, and only two games back are the No. 7 Suns \u2014 currently in line to play in the West\u2019s play-in tournament for the 2026 playoffs.<\/p>\n At the All-Star Game in Los Angeles, Kevin Durant \u2014 Houston\u2019s leading scorer and best player \u2014 was asked about the competitive nature of the West, and specifically how tight it is between No. 3 and No. 7.<\/p>\n Durant responded<\/a>:<\/p>\n It\u2019s a crazy conference, man. You can look up and drop down two spots in a night and rise up two spots in a night. It just goes to show you how much great talent there is in the league, great coaching, great GM-ing in the league to put together these good teams… teams that you didn\u2019t think would be in the running. Like Phoenix, who nobody thought would be this good and going out there and looking like a contending team. San Antonio.<\/p>\n A lot of teams each year have gotten better and made this conference even tougher. The Clippers are on their way back up. If you have a bad little stretch, you can drop in the standings, and that\u2019s always tough. But it\u2019s great competition throughout the whole league.\u00a0<\/p>\n Need a news break? Check out the all new PLAY hub with puzzles, games and more!<\/a><\/p>\n Last year, the Rockets clinched the West\u2019s No. 2 seed with nearly a week left to play<\/a> in the 2024-25 regular season. In turn, that made the final three games in early April largely irrelevant.<\/p>\n Based on the strength of the 2025-26 West, that appears unlikely to be the case this season.<\/p>\n Per Tankathon, Houston has the easiest remaining strength of schedule<\/a> of those five teams between three and seven (Denver Nuggets<\/a>, Rockets, Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, Minnesota Timberwolves<\/a>, and Phoenix). That might help, but it\u2019s likely to be a significant challenge nonetheless.<\/p>\n More: As turnovers mount, Rockets fall to No. 4 in West at All-Star break<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.ytimg.com\/vi\/V3ozQ-PO1Mk\/maxresdefault.jpg\")