Sengun put a stamp on this one.
One game after having his minutes questioned by fans and his conditioning questioned by head coach Ime Udoka, Alperen Sengun stepped up in a major way against the New York Knicks. Sengun played 33 minutes and scored 25 points to go along with 14 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 blocked shots, including 10 points in a decisive fourth quarter after a Knicks comeback to lead the Rockets to a 109-97 victory.
Houston was up by as many a 15 at one point but watched the lead slip all the way down to 1 point before Alpie did his thing. He finished the night 11-for-15 from the field. Houston also got 19 points and 5 assists from Fred VanVleet, who also had a bounce back night, shooting 8-for-14, and they also got 15 points from Jalen Green (though he was just 5-for-15 shooting), 13 from Dillon Brooks and 12 points and 9 rebounds from Amen Thompson.
The biggest star, however, was perhaps Houston’s defense. They held the Knicks to under 100 points on 38.6 percent shooting, and they outrebounded New York 50-39. The Rockets did struggle again from three-point land, going just 8-for-33 on the night from deep. Brooks was the only Rocket to make more the one three. Houston more than made up for it by shooting 35-for-55 from two-pointers.
As for the Knicks, they were led by Jalen Brunson with 29, OG Anunoby with 21 and Karl-Anthony Towns with 17 points and 19 rebounds.
Houston now moves to 4-3 on the season and will return to action on Wednesday with another game against the San Antonio Spurs, this time at home. The Rockets will be looking to break the 1-1 season series tie with the Spurs and their star Victor Wembenyama. We’ll of course be back on game coverage and on Playback.