With Sunday's win at Golden State, the Rockets secured a top-three placement in the 2025 Western Conference playoff field and are on the verge of landing the No. 2 seed.
The top-four teams in the West (standings) will all have home-court advantage in their first-round series, which means that Houston will open up its playoff run at home on either Saturday, April 19, or Sunday, April 20. The Rockets are 29-11 at Toyota Center this season.
Teams with home-court advantage would play the first, second, fifth, and seventh games of a best-of-seven series at home. The latter two are only played if necessary.
After defeating the Warriors (46-32), the Rockets are now at 52-27 on the 2024-25 regular season with three games left to play. Every team beyond the Rockets, the top-seeded Oklahoma City Thunder (64-14), and the third-seeded Los Angeles Lakers (48-30) has at least 31 losses, which means that Houston is guaranteed to finish with fewer losses.
One more loss from the Lakers — a possibility as soon as Tuesday night, at Oklahoma City — or one more win from the Rockets would clinch Houston's spot at No. 2.
Having the second seed would also put the Rockets in line to have home-court advantage in the second round of the playoffs, should they advance. The third seed would need the second seed to lose in order to have home-court advantage in the second round.
The Rockets return to action on Wednesday night in Los Angeles against the Clippers (46-32), and it's possible that came could have no postseason implications for Houston — should the Lakers lose a night earlier.
Houston has now won 15 of its last 17 games, overall.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets clinch top-three playoff seed, on verge of securing No. 2 spot
