HOUSTON — Though he was at the very least a partial participant in Monday’s shootaround, the Rockets have been once more with out All-Star center Alperen Sengun (low back pain) for his or her residence matchup versus the Lakers.
It’s the second consecutive sport that Sengun has missed with that designation. With their Turkish huge man sidelined, the Rockets defeated the New Orleans Pelicans on Friday.
Advertisement
Monday’s Rockets-Lakers sport is a crucial one within the Western Conference playoff race, as Los Angeles and Houston entered tied within the loss column (42-25 and 41-25) within the tightly packed standings. Those are the third-fewest losses amongst all West groups.
With per-game averages of 20.2 factors (50.3% FG), 8.9 rebounds, and 6.1 assists per sport, Sengun is having fun with one other sturdy statistical season. So, in an ideal world, the Rockets will surely favor to have him accessible.
But monitoring information suggests that his defense has slipped relative to final season, and it’s conceivable that bodily illnesses could possibly be at the very least a part of the reason. With that in thoughts, it appears the Rockets try to offer the 23-year-old at the very least a couple of days off to attempt to get proper.
With Sengun sidelined, head coach Ime Udoka selected to start out backup center Clint Capela alongside the standard quartet of Kevin Durant, Amen Thompson, Jabari Smith Jr., and Tari Eason.
Advertisement
At least initially, that places Capela in line to play towards Lakers huge man Deandre Ayton. It’s the primary time these two have confronted off since a collection of delicate (and not so subtle) digs in February.
Tipoff is at 8:30 p.m. Central from Toyota Center, with the sport televised and streamed regionally on Space City Home Network and nationally through Peacock and NBC Sports Network. Houston is a powerful 23-8 in residence video games this season.
The Rockets and Lakers will meet once more on the similar time on Wednesday, additionally from Houston. It remains to be seen if Sengun might be accessible for the rematch.
More: The Athletic on Rockets’ top priority: ‘Get Alperen Sengun back on track’
This article initially appeared on Rockets Wire: Rockets center Alperen Sengun remains sidelined with back pain
