All Houston Rockets center Alperen Sengun does to start his week is make history. First, scoring a career-high 45 points against projected Rookie of the Year Victor Wembanyama, and making it look easy. Then, tallying 25 points, 19 rebounds, two steals, and a career-high 14 assists against the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday. Sengun is the first center in NBA history to reach those numbers in a single game.
Alperen Sengun Drops Never-Before-Seen Statline
Expecting for their offseason signings to lift them into the playoffs, the Houston Rockets have had an underwhelming 2023-24 campaign. Still, in what’s been a growingly gloomy season, there have been several silver linings in their graying skies. Chief among them has been the play of third-year center Alperen Sengun, who has emerged as Houston’s go-to scorer.
A terrific low-post presence thanks to his nimble footwork, soft touch, and creativity, Sengun has shown the ability to stretch the floor out to 3-point range. Like Hall of Fame forward Dirk Nowitzki and 2-time NBA MVP Nikola Jokic, Sengun has even developed a unique set jumper. Efficient, effective, and productive, Sengun’s play has been the definition of outstanding.
His all-time great performance against Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs on Monday (Mar. 5) underscored his ability to put points on the board.
Career highs in points, field goal attempts, and steals.
Watch @alperennsengun WORK 👏 pic.twitter.com/4UypZVxNq2
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) March 6, 2024
His showing against the Kawhi Leonard-led Los Angeles Clippers the next night highlighted his all-around dominance. To that point, only three centers in NBA history have recorded more assists in a single game than Sengun did last night. With playmaking big men regaining popularity over the past few seasons, the 21-year-old is a prototypical modern-day center.
In fact, he’s more than that. He’s timeless.
45-point career high last night…
23 PTS, 19 REB, 14 AST triple-double tonight.
Alperen Sengun is ascending for the Rockets 🚀 pic.twitter.com/E6svYaxEe4
— NBA (@NBA) March 7, 2024
A Most Improved Player candidate throughout the season, Sengun is even receiving praise as the best Turkish player of all time, ahead of even former first-round pick Hedo Turkoglu.
In a bit of basketball irony, Turkoglu was selected 16th overall, like Sengun. In his eighth season, he emerged as the league’s Most Improved Player, averaging career-highs of 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game. Averaging 21.3 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 5.0 assists per game, Sengun is putting up even better numbers than that.
With 20 games remaining on their schedule, Sengun is finishing strong. He has at least another month left in his career season. As the clock winds down, there’s only one question: What history will Sengun make next?
