DENVER, COLORADO – DECEMBER 08: Nikola Jokic #15 of the Denver Nuggets is guarded by Alperen Sengun #28 of the Houston Rockets in the third quarter at Ball Arena on December 08, 2023 in Denver, Colorado. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
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The Rockets played just once last week, narrowly squeaking out a victory against the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday, 115-113. They had been off Saturday, December 6. Heading into the week, the Rockets are 16-6 and third in the Western Conference behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and Denver Nuggets.
This week will be a big test as the Rockets visit the Nuggets on Monday. They’ll play the floundering New Orleans Pelicans on Thursday before traveling back to Denver for another matchup on Saturday. If the Rockets want to keep pace with Denver for the second seed, they’ll need to at least split the two games. Houston lost to Denver on November 21, 112-109.
Heading into the week, the Rockets are second in net rating at +10.3, and second in defensive rating at 111.0. They have fallen down to a tie for third in offensive rating at 121.4. They still lead the league in offensive rebounding percentage by a healthy margin at 41.5%. The Detroit Pistons come in second at 35.8%.
Centers of Attention
Rockets center Alperen Sengun will no doubt hope to have a better performance in the games this week against his idol, Jokic, than he did back in November. In the two teams’ first matchup, Sengun scored just 14 points on 6-14 shooting, to go along with five rebounds, and six assists. Jokic, for his part, stuffed the stat sheet, scoring 34 points on 11-20 shooting, grabbing ten rebounds and dishing out nine assists, in leading his team to the victory.
Sengun had been garnering much buzz before the matchup for his impressive start to the season, adding fuel to the Jokic comparisons that have followed him since his rookie season. Before the game, Sengun said that while Jokic was someone he looked up to, he saw himself as writing his own story. The Rockets will hope that Sengun is on his game this week as they’ll need their center to match the MVP’s production if they want to stand a chance and pick up ground in the standings.
Per head coach Ime Udoka, the Rockets hope to welcome forward Tari Eason back to the lineup on Monday against the Nuggets.