LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers won 104-98 Monday night against the Houston Rockets in Crypto.com Arena. While no single Laker scored more than 20 points, Gabe Vincent and Dorian Finney-Smith became the first Lakers teammates to each hit six threes in the same game off the bench (via StatMuse).
This win was important for the Western Conference standings as the Rockets now hold just a 2.5-game lead over the Lakers for the second seed with one more matchup before the playoffs. While many players may say they do not pay attention to the standings, James did not beat around the bush when discussing the Lakers' goal moving into the postseason.
While speaking with reporters postgame in the locker room, the 21-time All-Star was adamant that Los Angeles was working to avoid being in the Play-In Tournament for the fourth time in five years.
"[The playoff seedings are] so close," said James. "It's talked about pretty much all the time, and you kind of see where you're at. For us, obviously, our mission is to lock in a playoff spot and not have to play in the Play-In. So we understand what's at stake."
"Our mission is to lock in a playoff spot and not have to play in the play-in so we understand what's at stake." #LakeShow
LeBron James (16 pts, 8 reb, 4 ast) speaks with the media after tonight's 104-98 win over the Houston Rockets. pic.twitter.com/hWZAltTlSA
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) April 1, 2025
The Western Conference playoff race is one of the closest in recent memory; there is just a four-game difference between the third-seeded Denver Nuggets and the eighth-seeded Los Angeles Clippers. While the Lakers would love to climb to the second seed before the playoffs arrive, they also need to maintain realism and see that the Play-In is still a possibility, which James described.
Los Angeles has just seven games remaining in the regular season, however, they possess the third-highest strength of schedule remaining according to tankathon.com. The Lakers still have to play the top seed in the NBA the Oklahoma City Thunder twice, the Golden State Warriors (who sit sixth in the West) once, as well as the Rockets again to determine who will receive the tiebreaker.
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This story was originally published April 1, 2025 at 7:22 PM.