The Houston Rockets made quick work of the hapless Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. They already had a 27-point lead at halftime, and as a result, there wasn't much need for some of their best players, including Alperen Sengun and Kevin Durant, to play extended minutes. But against an overmatched Kings squad, the Rockets stars didn't need much playing time to do their damage.
In fact, in their win over the Kings, Sengun recorded his third triple-double of the 2025-26 campaign, tallying 26 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists in his decimation of the shorthanded Sacramento frontline. In so doing, the Rockets star made a bit of history.
Despite being just 23 years of age, Sengun now has the 10th most 25/10/10 games by a center in NBA history, as pointed out by the Real App account on X (formerly Twitter).
Sengun remains the Rockets' primary offensive hub, and he has functioned as the team's de facto point guard this season amid Fred VanVleet's injury. There have been trying moments for Sengun and the Rockets this season, but this is the Turkish star at his best — a wrecking ball of a scorer in the paint who can make his teammates better by utilizing the attention he draws to create incredible looks.
All is good for the purportedly struggling Rockets
Even though there have been plenty of growing pains for the Rockets this season, they are somehow sitting in third place in the Western Conference. It's a testament to their high performance floor on a game-to-game basis that they remain one of the best teams in the stacked conference even amid the team's ridiculous inconsistencies.
This was the kind of win the Rockets needed — a convincing one that allowed their best players to play fewer minutes than usual, especially when they have a tough game looming on the second of a back-to-back against the Orlando Magic.
