Alperen Sengun Is Plus-111 and the 7-1 Rockets Are 6-0 When He Plays
Alperen Sengun had 26 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds as the Rockets beat Boston 109-93 to go 7-1, and Houston is 6-0 and plus-111 with him on the floor.
The Houston Rockets beat the Boston Celtics 109-93 on Monday at Toyota Center, per the NBA.com box score, to go 7-1 and take first place in the Western Conference, and Alperen Sengun led them with 26 points on 12-of-15 shooting, 10 assists and seven rebounds. In the six games he played, Houston was plus-111 with him on the floor and, by our count, about minus-35 in the roughly 13 minutes a night he sat.
The league took Tuesday off for Election Day, which left Houston on top of the West for two days. Memphis dropped to 6-1 on Monday with a 135-134 overtime loss to New Orleans. USA TODAY's Week 2 power rankings put the Rockets first, with the league's best net rating at plus-12.8. By our count from the box scores, Houston has scored 954 points and allowed 851 through eight games, a margin of 12.9 a night.
The two games without him
Sengun missed two games last week with low back soreness. Houston beat Milwaukee 132-100 on Oct. 28 and lost 116-111 at Dallas two nights later, which is the only loss on the schedule. Reed Sheppard sat the Dallas game with the same back issue.
In the six games he played, Houston outscored opponents by 76 points. Sengun was plus-111 across about 207 minutes in those games. By our count, that leaves the Rockets at about minus-35 in the roughly 81 minutes he sat. Eight games is a small sample. He was a plus player in all six of his games, with a low of plus-6 in the four-point win at San Antonio and a high of plus-29 in the 10-point home win over Atlanta.
Clint Capela, Steven Adams and Oscar Tshiebwe have taken the backup center minutes. In the four games Capela played behind Sengun, he logged 33 minutes and was minus-7, by our count. With Sengun out against Milwaukee, Capela played 22 minutes and was plus-23, per ESPN's box scores.
The numbers that moved
Last season Sengun averaged 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists on 51.9% shooting in 72 games, according to Basketball-Reference. Through six games this season he is at 23.3 points, 8.7 rebounds and 7.8 assists on 54-of-94 shooting, or 57.4%. His points, assists and field-goal percentage are all up from last season, with 1.6 more assists a game, and his rebounding is flat.
The team passing has moved with him. Houston averaged 25.4 assists a game in 2025-26. Through eight games it is averaging 28.8, by our count, and Monday's 34 assists on 43 baskets was a season high, also by our count. Fred VanVleet had nine of those, and Sengun had 10.
| Rockets | 2025-26 | 2026-27 (8 games) | | --- | --- | --- | | Record | 52-30 | 7-1 | | Point margin per game | — | plus-12.9 (by our count) | | Assists per game | 25.4 | 28.8 | | Sengun points / rebounds / assists | 20.4 / 8.9 / 6.2 | 23.3 / 8.7 / 7.8 | | Sengun FG% | 51.9% | 57.4% |
What it does for Durant and Jabari Smith Jr.
Kevin Durant averaged 26.0 points and took 5.8 threes a game last season. He is at 20.8 points this season, taking 3.4 threes a game, by our count, and he has gotten to the line 61 times in eight games, or 7.6 attempts a night, by our count. Against Boston he took six shots and made five. His heaviest night came in the loss at Dallas with Sengun out, when he took 20 shots and scored 28.
Last spring he played one playoff game in the first-round loss to the Lakers.
Jabari Smith Jr. is the other beneficiary. He shot 36.3% from three on 6.3 attempts a game last season. This season he is 25 of 52, or 48.1%, on 6.5 attempts, by our count. He scored 30 against Dallas on opening night and 30 more against Oklahoma City on Oct. 31, with six threes in that one. Against Boston he went 4 of 5 from deep and grabbed 10 rebounds. Smith is making his threes 11.8 percentage points better than last season, by our count.
Boston on Monday
The Celtics were on the second night of a back-to-back, per the Boston Globe, and the Rockets never trailed. Houston outscored Boston 18-2 on the fast break and 50-34 in the paint, shot 54.4% and made 14 of 35 threes. Jayson Tatum scored 19 on 5-of-16 shooting. Tatum, Derrick White, Sam Hauser and Payton Pritchard went a combined 2 of 22 from three.
Sengun took 15 shots and missed three, with two blocks and one turnover in 37:44. Houston led 57-50 at halftime and 82-73 after three, and Marcus Smart hit a pair of threes in the fourth-quarter run that put it away, per the AP.
The next test
The wins are over Dallas, San Antonio, Atlanta twice, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City and Boston. Oklahoma City was without Chet Holmgren and Cason Wallace, and Boston had played the night before. Two of the wins came by four and seven points.
Minnesota (5-3) visits Toyota Center on Wednesday night (8:30 p.m. ET, per ESPN).
Through eight games Houston is outscoring opponents by 12.9 a night, by our count, and is 6-0 when Sengun plays.
Sources:
- NBA.com: Celtics at Rockets box score, Nov. 2, 2026
- ESPN: Celtics vs. Rockets box score and play-by-play
- AP: Rockets 109, Celtics 93
- Boston Globe: Celtics at Rockets game story
- USA TODAY Sports: NBA power rankings, Week 2, Nov. 4, 2026
- Basketball-Reference: 2025-26 Houston Rockets
- ESPN: Houston Rockets 2026-27 schedule
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