Alperen Şengün is about to play the two most important games of his career, and the first one comes Friday night when the Houston Rockets return home for Game 3 against the Los Angeles Lakers down 2-0 in the first-round series.
The 23-year-old center is also carrying the most scrutiny of his five-year NBA career after back-to-back dud performances in Houston’s losses last week. He said Thursday the Rockets still believe they can win the series, adding that it is a long series, that the team is confident and will take it game by game. “We never give up. That’s who we are,” Şengün said.
The numbers explain why the pressure has sharpened. Through two playoff games, Şengün is averaging 19.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists, but he has shot only 38.5 percent from the floor. Among 17 players who have attempted at least 30 two-point field goals in this year’s playoffs, he is at 41.7 percent, the second-worst mark, just ahead of Philadelphia’s Tyrese Maxey at 40.6 percent. For a player the Rockets expected more from after last year’s playoff run helped solidify him as a franchise pillar, that is a difficult place to be.
Context matters because this is not the same Şengün Houston was watching a year ago. Last spring, he was a first-time All-Star, a fun up-and-comer and a central reason the Rockets pushed a series to seven games after recovering from a 3-1 deficit against the Golden State Warriors. He is now a two-time All-Star, and the expectation around him changed again last summer when Houston made the biggest move of the offseason and acquired Kevin Durant. The Rockets no longer need just flashes from Şengün. They need him to look like the player who can anchor what they want to be in the postseason.
That is why Friday matters so much. A home win would give Houston life before the series turns further into survival mode. Another flat night would deepen the questions around how Şengün handles the biggest stage, not just for die-hard fans in Houston but for the casual playoff viewers trying to decide what kind of star he really is. For now, the only thing left is the game itself, and the next one will say plenty.
