After ending a four-game road trip with two wins and two losses, the Los Angeles Lakers return home to play the Houston Rockets on Monday in a contest that will carry heavy playoff implications.
If they still have any hopes and aspirations of finishing second in the Western Conference, this will be a must-win game for them. They're currently in fourth place in the Western Conference with a 45-29 record, while the Rockets are 3.5 games ahead of them in second place with a 49-26 mark.
Houston is outstanding defensively and on the boards, and it makes teams pay for mistakes by capitalizing in transition, making this a challenging matchup for L.