Sengun’s Career Night Powers Rockets Past Pelicans, 106-104
The Wizard of H-Town. Superb Reservations. Mini-Break.
In a game where no team led by 7 points, resolve and will would determine the winner of this contest. And on this night, no player was more determined than Alperen Sengun. “The Wizard,” a nickname bestowed upon him by teammate Tari Eason, had the best game of his NBA professional career. Sengun finished with a career-high 37 points, including 11 boards and 6 dimes, fueling the Rockets to a 106-104 win over the Pelicans on Friday night. It’s only Sengun’s third career 30-point game in his third NBA season, but expect many more to come in the future. The young Turk is making a strong case for All-Star consideration this season, especially with Houston exceeding expectations with a 15-12 record this season. Sengun scored 9 points in the final four minutes to help the Rockets outlast the Pels’ in this one. He also exploited his matchup with Jonas Valanciunas. Sengun used his quickness to exploit the matchup, including fouling out Valanciunas with under five minutes remaining. Houston’s young star center has shown incredible improvement on the defensive end this season. Zion Williamson finished with 28 points for New Orleans, and seemed unstoppable on his drives to the hoop. That is, until he met Sengun, who had a key stop on Williamson late in the game.
The Rockets reserves were superb in this contest. After Houston trailed by six points early in the fourth quarter, the bench (featuring Tari Eason, Jae’Sean Tate, and Aaron Holiday, among others) outscored the Pelicans’ starters 9-0 to get the Rockets back in the contest. Jabari Smith Jr. continued his recent string of stellar performances. The sophomore forward for Houston scored at least 26 points for the second time in three games. His dominance on the glass continued, as he grabbed 11 rebounds as well. After a slow start to his rookie campaign, Smith Jr. is having a breakout season in his second year in the league. He scored a career-high 34 points in the Rockets’ latest loss to the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday night. And along with Sengun, Jabari was demonstrative in leading Houston to a victory over New Orleans. The win is the Rockets second straight, following a three-game losing streak. It’s also the first time all season they’ve been victorious on the second night of a back-to-back.
Houston was able to withstand another poor outing from Jalen Green, who is beginning to come under more scrutiny with each game. The Rockets’ shooting guard scored only 9 points on 8 shot attempts in 22 minutes of action, and was basically a non-factor in the squad’s comeback win. Fans are getting impatient, but it’s too early to give up on the former second overall pick. The Rockets can only hope that this is a first half slump which he bounces out of once the New Year comes around. Houston now has one of two “mini-breaks” coming up over the holidays. The squad will get two days off until their next matchup, a meeting with the Indiana Pacers back at Toyota Center on Tuesday. It’s the first time the Rockets have had two days off in a few weeks, so the squad needs to rest up over Christmas and be prepared to resume action next week. The Pacers have been struggling since losing to the Lakers in the In-Season Tournament finale, but they have plenty of young firepower to contend with Houston. The Rockets need to carry that same determination and will witnessed on Friday night into next week, as they end 2023 with a busy slate of three games in four nights… starting with a matchup on Tuesday night back in H-Town.