PORTLAND, Ore, April 17 (Ticker) -- Steve Kerr scored 16 points and Zach Randolph added 14 as the Portland Trail Blazers rested their regulars and concluded the regular season with their third straight win, 92-79 over the Houston Rockets.

The victory was the third in a row for the Trail Blazers. They head to the postseason as the sixth seed in the Western Conference and will face the Los Angeles Lakers in a first-round matchup. Portland has lost to LA in each of the last two years.

"We know that they are the defending champs and we know the kind of team the Lakers are," Blazers coach Maurice Cheeks said. "They have two of the best players in the league.

"I think we became a pretty good basketball team this year because we were able to maintain our bond," Cheeks added. "The strength of this team is that they love playing with one another. We'll be in the hunt."

NBA TV highlights from Rockets-Blazers: 56k | 300k Portland's Shawn Kemp was the only player to record a double-double in this one. Sam Forencich NBAE/Getty Images

Portland never trailed and led by as much as 22 points in the third quarter. It was its third win over Houston in four games this season.

Kenny Thomas scored 19 points for the Rockets, who lost their fourth straight game. Houston was without its starting backcourt of Steve Francis and Cuttino Mobley. Center Kevin Willis also sat out due to injury.

"We're going to go back and replenish," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We'll get some recruits coming in this June with the draft. Our guys are battle tested now and we've been through just about everything."

The win marked the 12th time in the Trail Blazers' history that it reached the 49-win plateau as well as Portland's 13th straight winning season.

"In some ways, it felt like one of those preseason games when you evaluate what your players can do," Cheeks said.

Kerr had just six points entering the fourth quarter as the Blazers led by 11 with 12 minutes remaining. But the shooting guard, who played for current Lakers coach Phil Jackson with the Bulls, helped the Blazers put the game away with 13 points.

"Scottie (Pippen) and I would love to beat him, of course," Kerr said. "It's like beating your dad or your brother but ultimately, that stuff really doesn't matter.

"I know we can beat them," Kerr added. "We pretty much knew it would be the Lakers and we've been preparing that way."

Leading 42-30 at halftime, Portland went on a 14-4 run over the first 4:27 of the third quarter to make it 56-34 on a basket by Damon Stoudamire, who scored six of his eight points during the spurt.

The Rockets could only get as close as 58-47 with just under four minutes left in the quarter on a free throw by rookie Oscar Torres.

Houston scored a season-low nine points in the first quarter, which was also the fewest scored against the Blazers in an opening period.

"It's been a great year for us but as a rookie, I'm learning a lot," Randolph said. "I would have loved to play more this year but it was a learning experience. I felt good out there tonight.

"LA's a great team because they have Kobe and Shaq," Randolph added. "It's going to be tough down there but we know we can do it."

Portland's Rasheed Wallace scored just four points and blocked three shots to become only the fourth player in league history to have at least 100 3-pointers and 100 blocked shots in a season.

"We're going to need Rasheed to be down on the block and really be a force for us," Kerr said.