When the Rockets started the game with consecutive three-point makes from Alperen Sengun and Amen Thompson, it felt like a good omen.
As it turned out, it was, as the Houston Rockets squeaked out a 113-110 victory over the San Antonio Spurs.
The Rockets led for most of this contest, but it got hairy in the fourth quarter. Luckily, they found their way out of the woods:
And Alperen Sengun led the charge.
One thing is clear: This man is not afraid of Victor Wembanyama. Sengun was hyper-aggressive down
the stretch, looking to score inside whenever he could, against whoever was there, and found tremendous success. He finished the game with 29 points on 10/20 shooting, 7 assists, and 7 rebounds.
Oh, and he hit 50.0% (2/4) of his threes, as did Amen Thompson (1/2). Chip Engelland’s deal with the devil continues to pay earthly dividends.
Speaking of Thompson…
Yes, he had 20 points and 10 rebounds. More importantly, he blocked the soul out of Wembanyama’s body to secure the win on the last play of the game.
One of the highlights of this game was Kevin Durant’s (relative) inactivity. The less Houston relies on him in the regular season, the better. He had a modest 20 points on 5/10 shooting from the field, although one of those shots was a massive triple in the closing moments that defined the game’s outcome.
What else? Tari Eason was great in his first (real) game of the season with 12 points, six boards and four steals, although he should probably dump off a pass or flush it with two hands instead of going for The Chocolate-Thunder-Flying, Glass-Flying, Robinzine-Crying, Babies-Crying, Glass-Still-Flying, Cats-Crying, Rump-Roasting, Bun-Toasting, Thank You-Wham-Bam-I-Am-Jam in a two-on-one fast break.
Another quirk in this game that’s maybe a non-sequitur here (if this is at all poorly written, please note that it is 1:50 AM and I have been up since 6:00 AM): It felt like Wembanyama was unstoppable at the rim. So many lobs, right? I wrote a whole paragraph about how Houston couldn’t stop him at the rim, but he was 9/21 in the game, so that couldn’t be true.
Ultimately, this was a game that was decided in the clutch. The team stats are nearly identical across the board. Sengun’s relentless inside scoring, Durant’s big triple, and perhaps the best play of Amen Thompson’s young career were the whole story. The Rockets improved to 2-0:
In mere hours, they’ll see if they can stay perfect against a talented Atlanta Hawks squad.
