Alperen Sengun produced a 45-point, 16-rebound double-double and dominated his matchup with rookie phenom Victor Wembanyama, leading the Houston Rockets to a 114-101 victory over the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday.
Sengun, whose point total was his career high, added a career-high five steals and routinely had his way in the post with Wembanyama, who posted 10 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots.
Sengun also nailed a pair of 3-pointers to spark the Rockets, who received a combined 45 points from the starting backcourt of Fred VanVleet (21 points, 10 assists) and Jalen Green (23 points).
Sengun authored a critical sequence in the fourth quarter that enabled the Rockets to wrestle control, hitting a 3 before notching a steal off Wembanyama and then making a behind-the-back bounce pass to Cam Whitmore (19 points) that resulted in a dunk and a 99-90 lead with 5:36 left.
Devin Vassell led the Spurts with 22 points while Malaki Branham and Keldon Johnson scored 20 and 18, respectively, off the bench. Jeremy Sochan added 15 points and, like Vassell, grabbed eight rebounds.
Green and VanVleet keyed an 8-0 spurt that enabled the Rockets to snap an early 15-15 deadlock and carry a 26-21 lead into the second quarter. Both drilled 3-pointers during the brief run before VanVleet fed Green for an alley-oop dunk in transition.
Excluding Wembanyama, the Spurs shot 7 for 20 in the opening period while Green, Sengun and VanVleet combined for the first 23 points for Houston. That tide turned in a back-and-forth second quarter behind Johnson, who scored 12 points off the San Antonio bench in that period.
Johnson and Wembanyama stroked 3-pointers to spark a 10-2 run that opened the second, then the Spurs closed the half with a 9-0 spurt. Zach Collins and Vassell hit from deep during that rally, one that provided the Spurs a 53-47 halftime lead.
–Field Level Media