Alperen Sengun and some tight D sparked a Houston dub.
The Houston Rockets moved to 7-4, their best start start since 2019-2020 season, as they followed Alperen Sengun’s lead to down the Washington Wizards 107-92. Sengun scored 27 points to go along with 17 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocked shots on 12-for-19 shooting from the field to pace Houston.
The second biggest star was the Houston defense, which once again played a stellar game. They held the Wizards to under 100 points, 40 percent shooting on the night, and forced 18 Wizards turnovers. The Defense is playing locked in ball at the moment.
The Rockets were without Fred VanVleet, who was nursing a hamstring injury on the second night of a back-to-back, so Amen Thompson got the start instead. Thompson finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist and 4 steals on the night. Jalen Green also had 18 points, though he was an inefficient 6-for-15 from the field.
Jabari Smith Jr. had 11 points and 9 boards, though he was just 2-for-10 from the field, and Aaron Holiday, who saw extra action with VanVleet out, also finished with 11 points. Tari Eason had 10 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals, and 2 blocks on 5-for-10 shooting, as he keeps making a case to start over Bari. Reed Sheppard tied a career high with with 7 points, as he also saw a few extra minutes with VanVleet out.
The Rockets were once again awful from three, going just 5-for-23. They’re going to need to find themselves some shooting if they’re going to be any kind of postseason threat this year. They have time to do that, especially if the defense keeps up their play of late, but the lack of a reliable long ball is becoming concerning. No Rockets player hit more than one triple, though both Sengun and Sheppard were 1-for-1 from deep.
The Rockets now get a break after sweeping the back-to-back and will return to action on Wednesday, when they start a two-game home series against the Los Angeles Clippers.