Despite Houston’s disappointing 128-125 overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets on Monday night, Alperen Sengun made franchise history with his first triple-double of the season.
In 42 minutes of playing time, Sengun made 14 of 27 shots and efficiently scored 33 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists. He’s averaging a career-high 7.1 assists per game this season and came close to a triple-double multiple times before Monday’s breakthrough.
advertise
Xianjun’s historic triple-double
Sengon’s triple-double on Monday was the ninth of his career, breaking a tie with Russell Westbrook and moving him into third place in Houston’s all-time triple-doubles. While Sengun is still a long way from former MVP James Harden, who leads the league with 46 triple-doubles, he could pass Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon for second place by season’s end.
The Turkish big man needs to accomplish the feat six more times this season to surpass Olajuwon’s 14 career triple-doubles. That seems like a reasonable goal considering Sengun’s all-around performance and his career-high scoring average.
In addition to surpassing Westbrook, he also became the youngest center in history to score 30 points and 10 rebounds multiple times in a single season. Sengun made his season debut on November 16 against the Orlando Magic, where he scored 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in a 117-114 overtime win.
Sengun’s teammate Amen Thompson has four triple-doubles in his career, tied for seventh in team history.
advertise
Thompson, who has less than half as many career appearances as Xian Gong, is also expected to claim a spot on the leaderboard and both could be among the top three all-time by season’s end.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: Alperen Sengun scores historic triple-double for Houston Rockets