Though the Houston Rockets resumed the double-big experiment and found success Wednesday with Christian Wood and Alperen Sengun sharing the court, it remains to be seen if they will use it in all games.
After all, Cleveland has one of the NBA’s largest frontcourts, with at least two out of Jarrett Allen, Evan Mobley, and Kevin Love typically on the court at all times. Other opponents are smaller and lighter on the front line, and head coach Stephen Silas may opt to match up, athletically.
But one person who wants to stick with the double-big unit is Wood, himself. After Wednesday’s victory, in which he had a team-high 21 points on 50% shooting and 42.9% on 3-pointers, Wood made his case:
I love it. Coach told me today at shootaround that if me and Al-P can find a way to play together, I can play more minutes so… I have to make it work. I definitely want to be on the floor the whole game, and I definitely want the fans… to see how much potential Al-P has. I’ve been harping all season about how much more minutes he should be getting. I do believe with his passing ability we can play off each other.
I think it went great tonight. I think we were down in the game, and he subbed both of us in and we took the lead. It worked out pretty well for us.
After trailing by seven points at the 6:21 mark of the first quarter, Silas inserted Sengun next to Wood, and Houston outscored Cleveland by eight over the remainder of the quarter. For the game, the Rockets were +20 in Sengun’s 25 minutes, best of any player on the court.
In postgame comments, Silas acknowledged that the pairing worked well against the Cavaliers, adding that he will “probably try it some more” in future games. In particular, Silas said it was important to give more minutes to Sengun, who is averaging only 18 minutes per game.
Sengun, who was drafted at No. 16 overall in the 2021 NBA draft, has been the most efficient player of Houston’s four first-round rookies — averaging 8.6 points (48.5% FG), 4.6 rebounds, and 2.4 assists in those 18 minutes. Those are especially impressive numbers if extrapolated closer to a starter’s minutes, but that’s not possible for Silas to even consider doing if Sengun is unable to play with Wood, who is the top scorer and rebounder on Houston’s entire team.
But if those two big men can play together, that changes the equation. The next opportunity for Silas to potentially test out the partnership comes Friday night in San Antonio, with tipoff set for 7:30 p.m. CST.
For all the talk about if Alperen Sengun and Christian Wood can play well together, ?s concern the defensive fit.
Pay attention to this #Rockets defensive possession, especially to Sengun. He switched split cuts action, stayed in front on an Iso, and kept his feet on the ground. pic.twitter.com/y78RBxpgSa
— Alykhan Bijani (@Rockets_Insider) February 3, 2022
