When the situation suddenly and surprisingly became dire against the Washington Wizards early in the fourth quarter on Monday, the Houston Rockets reclaimed stability by utilizing their most reliable offensive option. Houston center Alperen Sengun led the way down the stretch of a 107-92 victory by doing what he'd done in the previous three periods: dominate the paint. After Washington cut what had been a 16-point deficit to 86-80, Sengun scored on three consecutive possessions to quickly get the Rockets back on track.
Sengun and the Rockets will host the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Sengun finished Houston's second straight win with 27 points and 17 rebounds for his eighth double-double this season. He shot 12-of-19 from the floor to continue an efficient run of offensive production.
Sengun has shot better than 50 percent in four of the past five games -- all Houston wins -- and is averaging 21.2 points on 57.7 percent shooting during that span.
The Rockets have cultivated scoring threats from the perimeter and slashing to the rim during their protracted rebuild. But in Sengun, they have a throwback big capable of thriving on the block and providing the Rockets a sense of calm when shots aren't falling and things are a bit too frenetic. Simply getting the ball in to Sengun and letting him work has become a viable offensive tactic.
"It's a luxury I talked about last year, having Alperen to always dump it in and kind of slow down a little bit," Rockets coach Ime Udoka sa.