{"id":579021,"date":"2026-02-03T06:51:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/579021\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T06:51:46","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T06:51:46","slug":"sengun-leads-rockets-past-pacers-ball-leads-hornets-fightback-national","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/579021\/","title":{"rendered":"Sengun leads Rockets past Pacers, Ball leads Hornets fightback | National"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Alperen Sengun finished with 39 points and 16 rebounds as the Houston Rockets bagged their third consecutive victory with a 118-114 defeat of the Indiana Pacers on Monday.<\/p>\n<p>Turkish international Sengun, who was one of the most notable omissions from this month&#8217;s NBA All-Star Game, dominated at both ends of the court as the Rockets squeezed home.<\/p>\n<p>Jabari Smith Jr. backed Sengun with 19 points while Amen Thompson added 16 points as Houston improved to 31-17 to remain fourth in the Western Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Elsewhere, the Minnesota Timberwolves (31-20) saw their four-game unbeaten streak halted by the Memphis Grizzlies in a 137-128 defeat.<\/p>\n<p>Memphis, missing the injured Ja Morant, improved to 19-29 thanks to 30 points from Jaren Jackson Jr.<\/p>\n<p>Seven Memphis players finished in double figures, with Ty Jerome scoring 19 points and Jaylen Wells 18 points. Cam Spencer and Vince Williams added 16 points each.<\/p>\n<p>                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keybiscayneportal.com\/news\/national\/nigerias-president-pays-tribute-to-fela-kuti-after-grammys-award\/article_e0378694-8e93-54ba-9c2c-2936280245ad.html\" class=\"tnt-asset-link\" aria-label=\"Nigeria&#039;s president pays tribute to Fela Kuti after Grammys Award\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                &#13;<br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Nigeria's president pays tribute to Fela Kuti after Grammys Award\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"459\" height=\"344\" data- data-\/><br \/>\n                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>                    <a href=\"https:\/\/www.keybiscayneportal.com\/news\/national\/korda-captures-weather-shortened-lpga-season-opener\/article_dde47726-bfa2-56ca-ada6-77380605288d.html\" class=\"tnt-asset-link\" aria-label=\"Korda captures weather-shortened LPGA season opener\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p>                &#13;<br \/>\n                        <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\" alt=\"Korda captures weather-shortened LPGA season opener\" class=\"img-responsive lazyload full default\" width=\"455\" height=\"341\" data- data-\/><br \/>\n                <\/a><\/p>\n<p>The Charlotte Hornets edged closer to the playoff places with a 102-95 victory over the New Orleans Pelicans, extending their win streak to seven games.<\/p>\n<p>LaMelo Ball was the hero for Charlotte, recovering from an accidental clash of heads with Hornets head coach Charles Lee to finish with 24 points, eight rebounds and five assists.<\/p>\n<p>Ball needed treatment for a gash near his eye after colliding with Lee as he scrambled to grab a loose pass in the first quarter.<\/p>\n<p>He returned soon afterwards to help Charlotte climb out of a 22-point hole as the Hornets improved to 23-28, just one place behind 10th-placed Atlanta in the Eastern Conference.<\/p>\n<p>Rising Charlotte star Kon Knueppel finished with 17 points, including four three-pointers, while Brandon Miller and Grant Williams had 16 points each.<\/p>\n<p>rcw\/dh<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Alperen Sengun finished with 39 points and 16 rebounds as the Houston Rockets bagged their third consecutive victory&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579022,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3774],"tags":[22985,7,113,126,3866,6,114],"class_list":{"0":"post-579021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-indiana-pacers","8":"tag-afp","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-indiana","11":"tag-indiana-pacers","12":"tag-indianapacers","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-pacers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116005377425620414","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}