The Houston Rockets are pretty much exactly who everyone thought the Los Angeles Lakers were — a polar bear in Texas. Kevin Durant's latest stop on his well-traveled basketball journey is not striking fear into anyone's hearts by the time playoff basketball gets going in the Western Conference.
Barring a stunning collapse, the Rockets should be due for a top-six spot in the West. It would be improbable (although not totally impossible) to see the Phoenix Suns come in and disrupt the four teams who will juggle seeds three through six between them.
The Lakers, Rockets, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Timberwolves still have to figure out how that all shakes out. Los Angeles did themselves a huge favor by securing head-to-head tiebreakers over each of their rivals. It should give them the inside track to snatch up the third seed for the second year in a row.
From there, what can only make that sweeter is seeing the Rockets down in sixth. The Lakers have every reason to believe that is the matchup which would jumpstart a longer playoff run for them in the 2026 postseason.
Lakers could make quick work of the Rockets in round one
The Rockets are a strong defensive unit with multiple players who can switch across several positions. That has helped them maintain a top-10 unit in the NBA for the majority of the season and keep themselves relevant throughout.
Surprisingly enough, the Rockets grade out pretty well on the offensive end as well, by the numbers. At the very least, they are much better than one would initially believe. The uninspired sets and looks on that end could have fooled anyone.
All in all, it is still really difficult to believe the Rockets are truly scaring anyone without Fred VanVleet. The veteran guard is certainly not a star by any means, but VanVleet was the glue holding together a fragile situation in the backcourt. The fact that Houston did not make any significant moves to address the situation following his unfortunate injury was astounding.
In the stretch run of the season, it is just tough to believe the Lakers would have too difficult of a time dealing with what the Rockets can do on either end. They just showed everyone they can walk into Houston and snatch two wins on the road, too.
Perhaps there is some recency bias in looking at those results. Even with that rightfully identified, the Rockets still stand firmly above the Nuggets and Timberwolves as more favorable.
Anyone but Denver is something Los Angeles might chuckle about between now and when the postseason starts. Given a choice between the Timberwolves and Rockets, though, the answer should be clear.