The Houston Rockets are officially in the NBA playoffs for a second consecutive season.
When Phoenix lost to Charlotte on Thursday, the Rockets clinched a spot in the top six in the Western Conference.
The Rockets (47-29) are currently the fifth seed, one game ahead of No. 6 Minnesota (46-30). Houston trails Denver (49-28) for the fourth seed by 1½ games.
Houston has six games left in the regular season and face Utah at home on Friday.
Oklahoma and San Antono have clinched the top two seeds in the West. They will play the 7th and 8th seeds from the play-in tournament.
The Lakers (50-26) are currently the third seed.
If the current seedings hold, Houston would play Denver in the first round in a best-of-seven series starting either April 18 or 19. The Nuggets won the season series 3-1.
The Rockets and Timberwolves have split their two regular-season games and play again on April 10.
Last season, Houston returned to the playoffs after a four-year absence and earned the No. 2 seed but lost in the first round in seven games to Golden State.