New Headline: "Western Legends Battle It Out in Ultimate Showdown
The Western Conference playoff race intensifies as close battles for home court advantage heat up, with key matchups shaping the final standings.
Sitting here halfway through the last full month of games in the regular season, the standings virtually couldn’t get any closer. Particularly for teams fighting for home court advantage this postseason. Currently, there’s only a game and a half difference between the third and sixth seeds in the West.
The Lakers surpassed Minnesota and Denver, now positioned a half game ahead of Houston, who are in fourth place. The latter two teams hold an invaluable advantage and hope to keep that to end the season. Every win matters, but at least one of those squads is picking up a loss or two by the time we get to Thursday this week.
As previously covered on Roundtable, the baseball style series this week can be incredibly impactful on a final playoff bracket. For the Rockets, they already managed to come away with a win in their first meeting against Luka, LeBron, and the Lakers. This came on Christmas Day 2025 and gave Houston the tiebreaker throughout the new year.
These upcoming games will settle the season series. A win on Monday could hand Houston the tiebreaker for the rest of the season, making Wednesday a slightly less stressful night for Rockets fans. Regardless, the goal should still be to stomp LA in the Toyota Center and not look back.