"The Lakers and Warriors should be thanking for the play-in": Isiah Thomas with a harsh truth about LA and Golden State

Nobody saw this coming, but the Houston Rockets are the hottest team of the NBA right now. They've got their 8th straight win yesterday against Utah and are now just one win away from overtaking Golden State Warriors' 10th spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles Lakers, 9th seeded, are just three wins away from the Texas squad, and if they don't want to compromise their mission, they need to start winning consistently right now. Isiah Thomas shared his point of view about the present of these two Western juggernauts.

As unbelievable as it sounds, a team that was virtually out of any playoff contention has rise from the bottom of the Western Conference. The Rockets, who lost one of their key players in Alperen Sengun with a hurt leg, have found their best form without him and now, according to the two-time NBA Champion and Finals MVP, Isiah Thomas, they look prepared to overtake two of the greatests and historic Western Conference teams.

"I think they (the Warriors) do hold on because of their experience, but I'm telling you, them Houston Rockets, they coming, and they playing hard," said Isiah on NBA TV.

"The Warriors and the Lakers, the last two years, they should be thanking Adam Silver for the play-in. Yeah, they should be thanking for it, because if there was no play-in, these two teams would be out of the playoffs for the last two years. It's crazy."

"And about the Rockets, hey...they've won eight straight, playing great basketball. They're confident, they're young, and they're taking on all comers. So Golden State and LA...there's pressure to keep winning, because there's somebody knocking on the door, and they're (the Rockets) not going away," concluded Thomas.

The legendary Detroit Pistons' point guard has a point. Golden State and LA both benefited from the play-in positions. The Warriors lost against the Grizzlies back in 2021 and the Lakers went through last year's play-in, all the way up to the Western Conference Finals, when they were swept by the Denver Nuggets.

Will the Rockets maintain their consistency and steal one of the play-in spots from one of these two historic teams?