![\"Rockets](\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/ar_16:9%2Cc_fill%2Ccs_srgb%2Cfl_progressive%2Cg_xy_center%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_1200%2Cx_2674%2Cy_596\/MjEyNjg4OTkwNzk1NDc0NTYw\/usatsi_25197158.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are both hot, and now they’ll square off on Friday night.<\/p>\n
The Rockets (52-28) are second place in the Western Conference and have won seven of their last 10 games, while the Lakers (49-31) are third and have won six of their last 10.<\/p>\n
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The Lakers are coming off a 112-97 road win over the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday, which marked Luka Doncic’s first return to the American Airlines Arena since Dallas traded him to Los Angeles in February.<\/p>\n
The superstar’s 45 points (16-28 FG, 7-10 3 PT) tied his season high. Meanwhile, the Rockets lost 134-117 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday but beat the Golden State Warriors 106-96 away from home on Sunday. Houston announced its injury report on Thursday, via Lakers Nation’s Ryan Ward.<\/p>\n
Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun (28) Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images “Alperen Sengun is QUESTIONABLE, along with Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith,” he reported.<\/p>\n
“Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson have been cleared to play.” The Rockets held all of those players out against the Clippers.<\/p>\n
Looks like we’ll have a competitive game tomorrow in LA.<\/p>\n
Alperen Sengun is QUESTIONABLE, along with Fred VanVleet and Jabari Smith. Dillon Brooks and Amen Thompson have been cleared to play. \u2014 Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) April 11, 2025 Houston has clinched the second seed and are 14 games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder, so there’s nothing at stake in their final two regular-season contests.<\/p>\n
At this point, they must simply stay healthy before the playoffs.<\/p>\n
Jalen Green leads the Rockets in scoring with 21.4 points per game, while Sengun leads in rebounds (10.4) and VanVleet leads in assists (5.6).<\/p>\n
Additionally, Tari Eason leads in steals (1.7) and Amen Thompson leads in blocks (1.3). The Lakers will cap their regular-season slate with an away tilt vs. the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers are both hot, and now they’ll square off on Friday night. The Rockets (52-28) are second place in the Western… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":51720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-51696","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba"],"yoast_head":"\n