Lakers turning eye to postseason

After topping the team with the NBA’s worst record Friday with the win against the Pistons, the Rockets will move on to a meeting with a team still hoping to be the NBA’s best.

The Lakers finally moved past .500 on Friday with their win in Minneapolis, a long way from the top of the standings, but they have won four of their past five games and have moved to within a game-and-a-half of the Warriors to move up to sixth and avoid the play-in tournament.

That should provide the Lakers with plenty of motivation, though they might have had that anyway after the previous meeting with the Rockets when the Rockets won in Toyota Center while the Lakers played without Anthony Davis and LeBron James.

James, listed as questionable with right foot soreness, has been back from his foot injury for three games and Davis, listed as probable with a right foot stress injury, has been a force since James was hurt Feb. 26 in Dallas. The Lakers went 10-6 since James’ injury, including the 2-1 record since he returned.

They are 14-7 since the roster overhaul, with a sense that with James back, Davis rolling and a lineup in which the parts fit much better, they could make some noise in the postseason. They still have to secure their place in the playoffs, making the return to Toyota Center an important game for the Lakers, and feel that way for the Rockets.

Here are five things to watch:

Who’s got LeBron?

The Rockets had assigned Eric Gordon and Jae’Sean Tate to defend James since the end of P.J. Tucker’s seasons with the assignment. Tate, however, has missed the past seven games with tendinitis in his left knee and is out. Gordon was traded to the Clippers. The Rockets did not need to deal with that matchup decision in the last meeting with James out but will Sunday.

Jabari Smith Jr., who received so much attention for telling James that James had played his first game against his father, will likely get the first turn on James. He matched up with James for six minutes in the first meeting with James making 7 of 9 shots, including 3 of 4 3-pointers, when defended by Smith.

If the Rockets try to go another way, K.J. Martin could get his chance on James, having not defended the Lakers’ star at all in the first meeting.

James has had mixed results since his return, making 23 of 49 shots and averaging 20.7 points, 4.3 assists and 8.7 rebounds.

The Rockets, however, have seen him at his best. His 48 points against them in the first meeting are a season high, with James making 16 of 26 shots including 5 of 10 3s, adding nine assists, eight rebounds and taking over down the stretch to pull out the win.

Keep Austin wired

Austin Reaves was impressive when filling in for James when he was out. While James has reclaimed his starting spot, Reaves has remained in the starting lineup.

Reaves could merit consideration as a most improved candidate, averaging 12.4 points on 51.9 percent shooting, 38.3 percent shooting from the 3-point line. He has made 56.3 percent of his shots, including 41.3 percent of his 3s in the 21 games since the Lakers brought out the new lineup and rotation on Feb. 11, including the 24 points he had in the previous meeting in Toyota Center.

Home or road Alpi?

Rockets center Alperen Sengun had his best game of the season in the first matchup with the Lakers, scoring 33 points on 14 of 17 shooting, even making a pair of 3s, while adding 15 rebounds, six assists and four blocked shots.

The Lakers shifted James to defend him, stopping Sengun down the stretch to help secure the win in Los Angeles. In the rematch, Sengun made 6 of 10 shots, but far less spectacular, scoring 13 points with nine rebounds.

He has shot well lately. After scoring 15 points on 5 of 7 shooting on Friday against the Pistons, Sengun has averaged 15.5 points on 61.5 percent shooting in his past six games after averaging 12.6 points on 50.9 percent shooting in his previous nine games. He had just one double-double in nine games before getting double digit points and rebounds in each of the past two games.

Friday, he added seven assists, including a nolook, behind-the-head dish to Martin for a slam that Sengun described as “I just do what I do.”

One, two punch

Kevin Porter Jr. and Jalen Green are coming off one of their best games as a backcourt tandem, scoring 33 and 32 points, respectively, on Friday against the Pistons. It was their first game this season with both scoring at least 30 points. They did it twice last season, but both of those games were losses.

Porter had 27 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in the win against the Lakers, after sitting out the first meeting in the second game after his toe injury that would cost him 20 games.

Green, however, has made just 11 of 33 shots, 5 of 16 3s, in the two games against the Lakers. He averaged two assists in those games but has had at least four in the Rockets’ past five games, the second longest streak of his career.

Porter has scored at least 30 points in consecutive games for the second time in his career. In his past three games, he has averaged 4.7 3-pointers on 46.7 percent shooting. He had averaged two 3s per game on 32.8 percent shooting in his previous 10 games.

Still contributing

Rockets rookies Smith and Tari Eason have been misfiring, but still contributing. The Rockets will likely need one or both to find their shooting touch.

Eason, who has made 1 of 17 shots in his past two games after averaging 14 points on 54.7 percent shooting in his previous seven games, is on pace to be the fourth player to average at least nine points, six rebounds and one steal in fewer than 22 minutes. Nikola Jokic in 2015-16 is the only one to do that since 1981-82. Though Eason made just 1 of 11 shots on Friday, he had 11 rebounds, two steals and a blocked shot.

Smith, who has made 35.2 percent of his shots in the past four games after making 50 percent in his previous nine games, had seven double-doubles in March, including in each of his past three games, the second most for a player 19 years old or younger in one month. He is tied for the fifth most double doubles (15) but a player 19 or younger, with only Dwight Howard, James and Jalen Duren, who had his 17th against the Rockets on Friday, having more.