WOW FACTOR
Milestone moment: Alperen Sengun's career night ignites Rockets' victory over Spurs
Mar 6, 2024, 9:47 am
WOW FACTOR
Alperen Sengun scored a career-high 45 points with a season-best 16 rebounds to lead the Houston Rockets to a 114-101 win over the San Antonio Spurs Tuesday night.
Sengun, who is in his third NBA season, also set a career mark with five steals and had three assists and a block, outplaying rookie French phenom and No. 1 pick Victor Wembanyama. He had 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocks as San Antonio’s two-game winning streak ended.
“He was a beast,” Jalen Green said. “He was amazing, that’s the Alpi I know.”
Sengun is the fifth player since 1973-74, when steals started being tracked, to have at least 45 points, 15 rebounds and five steals in a game. He joins Anthony Davis, who did it two times, Joel Embiid, James Harden and John Drew. At 21 years and 224 days old, Sengun is the youngest player to record such a line.
Sengun admitted that he was extra motivated to have a good showing against Wembanyama Tuesday after scoring 15 points and nine rebounds in the last meeting with the Spurs.
Career highs in points, field goal attempts, and steals.
Watch @alperennsengun WORK 👏 pic.twitter.com/4UypZVxNq2
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 6, 2024
“Yeah of course,” he said. “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.
”The Spurs scored five points, with a 3 from Keldon Johnson, to cut the lead to 92-88 with about eight minutes left.
Houston then used a 7-2 run to make it 99-92 midway through the quarter. Wembanyama had two turnovers in that stretch to help Houston pad the lead. The second one came on a steal by Sengun and he drove down the court before making a nifty behind-the-back pass to Cam Whitmore, who finished with a two-handed dunk.
The Rockets were up by 8 late in the fourth before using another 7-2 spurt to make it 114-101. Sengun capped his big night by scoring Houston’s last five points, ending with a 3-pointer.
Jalen Green added 23 points with 10 assists for Houston and Fred VanVleet had 21 points.
The Spurs were led by Devin Vassell, who had 22 points and Branham had 20 points off the bench.
“They were physical from the get-go until the end of the game,” San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. “The came after it that way, they played that way. They put us in the mud, we didn’t respond to it very well and you got the outcome.”
San Antonio’s Jeremy Sochan tripped Amen Thompson while he was on the ground with about 5 ½ minutes left in the third quarter. Thompson got up and immediately pushed Sochan and the two players shoved each other several times before officials and players got between them to break things up.
Sochan received a flagrant 1 foul for tripping Thompson and both players were given technical fouls for the ensuring shoving match.
Houston used a 7-1 run after that to take a 72-67 lead.
Malaki Branham made a 3 for the Spurs after that but Houston scored the next eight points, highlighted by a 3 from VanVleet, to extend the lead to 10.
The Spurs scored the final seven points of the quarter, capped by another 3 from Branham, to get within 80-77 entering the fourth.
Spurs: Visit Sacramento Thursday night.
Rockets: Host the Los Angeles Clippers Wednesday night.
Houston (6-2) at New York Jets (2-6)
Thursday, 8:15 p.m. EDT, Amazon Prime
BetMGM NFL odds: Jets by 2.
Against the spread: Texans 3-4-1; Jets 2-6.
Series record: Jets lead 7-3.
Last meeting: Jets beat Texans 30-6 in East Rutherford, New Jersey, on Dec. 10, 2023.
Last week: Texans beat Colts 23-20; Jets lost to Patriots 25-22.
Texans offense: overall (9t), rush (18), pass (8), scoring (14).
Texans defense: overall (2), rush (13), pass (3), scoring (15t).
Jets offense: overall (24), rush (30), pass (13), scoring (25).
Jets defense: overall (4), rush (17), pass (2), scoring (11t).
Turnover differential: Texans plus-4; Jets minus-3.
RB Joe Mixon. He has carried Houston's offense in the three games since he returned from an injury and could be even more important this week after wide receiver Stefon Diggs tore the ACL in his right knee last Sunday and is out for the season. Mixon ranks third in the NFL by averaging 100.6 yards rushing a game and has had at least 100 yards rushing and a TD run in three straight games.
Edge rusher Haason Reddick. After ending his lengthy contract holdout early last week, Reddick made his Jets debut and played 26 snaps on defense with two quarterback pressures while working mostly on third downs. His snaps might increase a bit Thursday and he could help the Jets get after C.J. Stroud, who has been sacked 22 times this season — tied for third most in the NFL.
Jets offensive line vs. Texans' pass rush. New York has had issues this season with injuries, consistency and protecting Aaron Rodgers. The Jets will face a tough test Thursday night against the Texans, whose 27 sacks are third in the NFL. DE Will Anderson Jr. is tied for third in the league with a career-high 7 1/2 sacks, including at least one in his past three games. DE Danielle Hunter has 5 1/2 sacks and DT Tim Settle has four, powering a formidable defensive front for Houston. Hunter leads the league with 51 quarterback pressures and Anderson is fourth with 39, the only teammates in the top 15, according to Next Gen Stats.
Diggs' injury leaves Houston without its top two receivers. Nico Collins, who leads the Texans with 567 yards receiving, is out for at least one more game after being placed on injured reserve with a hamstring injury. ... S Calen Bullock was limited in practice Monday and Tuesday after injuring his shoulder Sunday. … LBs Azeez Al-Shaair (knee) and Henry To’oTo’o (concussion) both missed the Colts game, but could return this week. … S Jimmie Ward could miss a fifth straight game with a groin injury. … LG Jarrett Patterson is in the concussion protocol and is likely out. … RB Dameon Pierce missed practice this week with a groin injury. ... Jets LB C.J. Mosley suffered a stinger in his neck during pregame warmups at New England and was meeting with neck and spine specialists this week. ... RG Alijah Vera-Tucker (ankle), WR Allen Lazard (chest), DL Leki Fotu (knee) and safeties Tony Adams (hamstring) and Ashtyn Davis (concussion) all missed the game vs. the Patriots and their availability for this week was uncertain. ... K Greg Zuerlein was placed on IR. Riley Patterson and Spencer Shrader were signed to the practice squad, and one will be promoted for the game.
The Jets have won the past two meetings. ... New York won the first five meetings, including the first game between the franchises in 2003, when LaMont Jordan's late 8-yard touchdown run helped lift the Jets to a 19-14 victory. ... Zach Wilson threw two touchdown passes in the most recent meeting, a 30-6 rout by New York during which Stroud left with a concussion.
The AFC South-leading Texans have won four of their past five. ... Stroud is 2-0 with three touchdowns and zero interceptions in two career starts in prime time. He had 285 yards passing last week for his ninth career game with at least that many yards passing, which is tied for second most in the NFL since 2023. ... WR Tank Dell had a touchdown reception last week and has a TD catch in two of his past three games. ... TE Dalton Schultz had a season-high 52 yards receiving against the Colts. He has two TD receptions in each of his past two Thursday night games. ... Hunter has 10½ sacks in eight career Thursday night games. … LB Neville Hewitt, who spent the 2018-21 seasons with the Jets, forced a fumble last week. … Rookie CB Kamari Lassiter had a career-high three passes defended last week. … S Jalen Pitre had his first interception of the season last week. ... S Eric Murray had seven tackles and a season-high three passes defended last week. ... New York is trying to snap a five-game skid. ... Jeff Ulbrich is 0-3 as the Jets’ interim head coach since replacing the fired Robert Saleh on Oct. 8. Ulbrich, also the team's defensive coordinator, said earlier this week he'll continue to call plays on defense. … Rodgers snapped a streak of three consecutive games with an interception. He has seven in eight games, six shy of his single-season career high set in 2008 in his first year as Green Bay’s starting quarterback. ... Rodgers hasn't passed for 300 yards since throwing for 341 against Chicago on Dec. 12, 2021 — a span of 30 regular-season games and 31 overall, including one playoff game. ... WR Garrett Wilson leads the NFL with 84 targets, 11 more than the Giants’ Malik Nabers. Wilson’s 51 receptions are second in the league behind Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers, who has 52. ... WR Davante Adams had four catches for 54 yards, giving him seven receptions for 84 yards in two games since being acquired from the Raiders. ... Second-year WR Xavier Gipson caught his first career TD pass last Sunday. ... TE Tyler Conklin has a TD catch in consecutive games after not having one since catching two TD passes in Week 8 of the 2022 season against New England. ... RB Breece Hall has 316 yards receiving, the most among NFL running backs. ... Edge rusher Will McDonald has eight sacks, second in the NFL to the Giants’ Dexter Lawrence (nine). … The Jets have only six takeaways, ranking among the fewest in the league. Backup CB Brandin Echols has New York's only two interceptions.
Houston wide receiver John Metchie is coming off a career-best three-catch game and could see more targets — and perhaps his first NFL touchdown — with both Diggs and Collins out. Might be worth a stash as a potential WR3.
_______________________
Fans of Houston sports and Houston food can now score tickets to The Tailgate, CultureMap's all-out party devoted to everyone’s favorite way to get in the gameday spirit. The event, presented by Verizon, goes down from 6-9 pm November 11 at 8th Wonder. Tickets are $75 for VIP and $50 for General Admission. For a limited time, we’re giving you $10 off; use code SPORTSMAP at checkout. Get your tickets now!