The Houston Rockets have struggled to find success which is common place for a young team in the NBA but they do have a major building block for their future in Alperen Sengun. Their third year center has been special at times this year and is the best player on a Rockets team with a lot of young talent. This season, Sengun is having the best season of his career so far averaging a career high in scoring at 21.3 points per game on 53.8% from the field along with 9.4 rebounds per game. The Turkish star is showing early signs of a Nikola Jokic type player as the next great European superstar big man in the NBA.
Sengun had a statement game on Tuesday against one of the most talented young players in Victor Wembanyama of the San Antonio Spurs. Sengun scored a career-high 45 points, a season-best 16 rebounds, and a career high 5 steals and leading the Rockets to a 114-101 over the Spurs. His sensational performance put him amongst unique company as just the fifth player in NBA history to have at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and five steals in a game. He is also the youngest player to accomplish such a feat at just 21 years old. Sengun appeared motivated by his matchup against Wembanyama to have a big game as he admitted post game. “I didn’t play that good last game against him I can say. I didn't see that many double teams today. They just left me one-on-one with Wemby, so I just did what I do.” Sengun dominated his matchup against Wembanyama who scored just 10 points in the game.
The following night, Sengun had an encore performance against the Los Angeles Clippers. After a blowout win against the Spurs the Rockets carried that momentum into the next game against the Clippers. The Rockets led by as many as 20 points in the first half but Kawhi took the game over in the second half to lead the Clippers to the 122-116 win on the road. Despite the loss, Sengun was once again the best player on the floor for the Rockets putting up a triple double performance against one best teams in the west. He finished with 23 points, a season-high 19 rebounds and 14 assists earning the fourth triple double of his career. With performances like this from a player who is just 21 years of age the Rockets appear to have a player they can build around for years to come.
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