The Los Angeles Lakers need just one victory in their final two games to clinch the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference and their first opportunity to do so comes when they host the Houston Rockets in their regular season home finale.
The Lakers have already clinched a top-6 seed and thus will avoid the Play-In Tournament, but head coach JJ Redick has already said that the team wants to lock in the highest seed possible. As such, the Lakers will have their full roster available as Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves were both not listed on the injury report while LeBron James was probable.
The Rockets, on the other hand, have already clinched the second seed in the West and don’t have anything to play for in their final regular season games. With health being so important, Houston will be sitting basically all of their normal rotation players, including Alperen Sengun, Fred VanVleet, Amen Thompson, Dillon Brooks, Tari Eason and Jae’Sean Tate.
The only exception is Jalen Green, though he will likely only play a few minutes in order to keep his consecutive games played streak alive before joining his fellow starters on the bench.
Reaves, Doncic and James combined for just 48 points in the last meeting between these teams, but the Lakers were able to come out on top thanks to Dorian Finney-Smith and Gabe Vincent each knocking down six 3-pointers. Expecting a performance like that again might be a bit much, but it does show the importance of the Lakers role players, especially when the stars are having a rough night.
Even with the Rockets sitting out most of their key players, this is still a very deep roster and they will continue to play Houston basketball, which is to say, be physical and tough, play great defense and crash the glass. First-round pick Reed Sheppard is very talented and has been waiting all season long for an opportunity and what better chance than against the Lakers. Additionally, Cam Whitmore is also a very dangerous player capable of big nights.
The most important thing for the Lakers is to match the physicality and intensity the Rockets will bring and to keep them off the offensive glass, which is not easy. But the Lakers have shown they are up to the challenge and they better be as they do not want to go into their season finale not having locked down that No. 3 seed. But Houston will not make it easy on them in the least, so they better strap in and be ready to fight.
Los Angeles Lakers (49-31) vs. Dallas Mavericks (52-28)
7:30 p.m. PT, April 9, 2025
Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
TV: Spectrum SportsNet, NBA TV
Radio: 710 AM ESPN LA
Projected Lakers starting lineup:
PG: Luka Doncic
SG: Austin Reaves
SF: Rui Hachimura
PF: LeBron James
C: Jaxson Hayes
Key Reserves: Dorian Finney-Smith, Gabe Vincent, Dalton Knecht, Jordan Goodwin, Jarred Vanderbilt
Projected Rockets starting lineup:
PG: Reed Sheppard
SG: Jalen Green
SF: Cam Whitmore
PF: Jeff Green
C: Steven Adams
Key Reserves: Jock Landale, Aaron Holiday, Nate Williams
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