Alperen Sengun gets the best of Victor Wembanyama: Houston Rockets cruise past San Antonio Spurs

In this marquee matchup between 2 young, talented foreign bigs, it was Alperen Sengun who dominated Victor Wembanyama. He led the Houston Rockets to a hard-fought 114-191 victory over the San Antonio Spurs at Toyota Center.

Sengun and Wemby are 2 players who are destined to make numerous All-Star appearances in the future, as both display a wide variety of skill. Alpy has amazing vision for his size, as his nickname is “Baby Jokic”. He can facilitate and orchestrate an offense at the center position with ease which is such a rare skill to have as a big.

Vic on the other hand has the potential to be one of the greatest players ever. He has the three point shot, the handle, the passing ability, and the elite defense all wrapped up in his 7’-4” frame. Nobody has ever seen the skills that Wembanyama possesses at his size, and in just his rookie season he is already looking comfortable playing against these grown men.

However, it was the Rockets center who stole the headlines tonight, as Sengun scored a career high 45 points to go along with 16 rebounds and 5 steals. Jalen Green scored 23 points while Fred VanVleet recorded 21 points and 10 assists with 5 made triples. Cam Whitmore contributed 19 points off the bench.

For the Spurs, Devin Vassell led the team with 22 points. Wemby recorded 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 7 blocks. Malachi Branham provided 20 points off the bench while Keldon Johnson scored 18. Jeremy Sochan finished with 15 points and 8 rebounds.

This win improves the Rockets to 27-34, and they now sit just 0.5 games behind the 11th seeded Jazz. Houston started the season off hot but has cooled off towards the middle of the year. Regardless, this has been a good chance for their young players to develop and that’s exactly what they’ll look to do in the last 20 games of the regular season. They are 4-6 over their last 10 games and will face off against the Clippers tomorrow.

Meanwhile, this loss drops the Spurs to 13-49. Each game is a chance for Vic to improve so even though these games don’t mean anything in terms of seeding, it’s good experience for the young rookie. San Antonio is 3-7 over their last 10 games and will look to bounce back on Thursday against the Kings.