All-Star center Alperen Sengun claimed the Los Angeles Lakers were lucky after they defeated his Houston Rockets team last night. Two straight wins for the Lakers over the Rockets saw Sengun back for this game after missing some time due to injury. A dominant fourth quarter gave the Lakers a 124-116 victory over the Rockets in Houston.
Sengun used the term “lucky” multiple times when discussing the loss:
“I think they made some tough shots, and we kind of changed our coverage. It was kind of the first game that we did it, so [even though] I think we did a pretty good job, we just didn’t get lucky at the end of the game.
They made a lot of threes today, I think. Tough threes at the end of the game, Rui made some BS threes. So it happens, sometimes you get lucky, they just made some tough shots, but we’ll be back next game.”
Lakers fans were not too pleased to hear this comment after the team scored two decisive road victories over the Rockets. Sengun tried to give his team the benefit of the doubt by saying the breaks just went the Lakers’ way last night.
Sengun Threw Shade At Rui Hachimura
The comments from Sengun initially talked about Houston missing tough shots and the Lakers getting lucky to make tough shots. However, it seemed a bit strange when Sengun referenced Rui Hachimura by name to talk about someone hitting “BS” three-pointers that he felt should not have gone in.
Hachimura’s role on the Lakers is partially to hit open threes thanks to teammates Luka Doncic, LeBron James, and Austin Reaves often drawing double teams. JJ Redick’s game plan is for Rui to get a lot of good looks at three-pointers within the flow of the game.
Sengun felt the Lakers had a lot of fluky breaks going their way on offense, but that doesn’t excuse the Rockets’ terrible closing offense. Los Angeles played some of their best defense in the fourth quarter to outscore Houston by 11 points. Sengun’s comments come off poorly since the Lakers looked like the clear better team over two consecutive games.
Sengun Should Worry About Houston’s Issues
The Rockets have been struggling for a little while now in the tough Western Conference battle. Houston has now lost four of their last six games to show negative momentum with just a month left in the NBA regular season.
Sengun missed a few of those recent games, but the Rockets show a real problem of their chemistry not looking as crisp as the other teams. Head coach Ime Udoka and star player Kevin Durant had differing statements on how to improve the offense just a few days ago.
The West sees the Lakers, Rockets, Minnesota Timberwolves, and Denver Nuggets battling for seeds between third and sixth. Two teams with the worst records of the four will not have home court and will have a tougher playoff path. Sengun, Durant, and the rest of the Houston roster must improve quickly to avoid wasting a season.
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