The NBA announced Monday that Houston center Alperen Sengun was named Western Conference Player of the Week for games played from Monday, Jan. 1, through Sunday, Jan. 7.
In earning the honor, Sengun is the first Rockets player to win the award since James Harden in November 2019. At 21 years old, he is the youngest to have done so in franchise history.
The Rockets went 3-1 last week, with Sengun averaging a team-high 24.0 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists, and 1.5 steals per game.
Sengun had 26 points and 9 assists in a win vs. Detroit on Jan. 1; 30 points and 8 rebounds in a win vs. Brooklyn on Jan. 3; and he closed out the week by recording his 11th double-double of the season with 21 points and 11 boards in a win vs. Milwaukee on Jan. 6.
In between, Sengun had 19 points in a loss to Minnesota on Jan. 5, snapping a career-best seven-game streak of scoring 20 or more. He did not have a streak beyond two games over his first two seasons.
NBA Players of the Week for Week 11.
West: Alperen Sengun (@HoustonRockets)
East: Jalen Brunson (@nyknicks) pic.twitter.com/aC61lE39he— NBA (@NBA) January 8, 2024
This season, Sengun is averaging 21.4 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 53.7% from the floor. For 2023-24 to date, recent MVP winners Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, and Nikola Jokić are the only other NBA players averaging that many points, rebounds, and assists on a per-game basis.
Entering 2023-24, only four players had ever averaged at least 21.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 5.0 assists while shooting 53.0% or better in a single season (Kareem Abdul-Jabbar twice, Antetokounmpo five times, Wilt Chamberlain three times, and Jokić three times).
Sengun has scored 30 or more points in three of the past eight games after doing so three times in the first 173 games of his career. He has scored at least 20 points in 21 different games this season after doing so a total of 17 times over his first two seasons.
Sengun has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.05 this season, up from 1.51 in 2022-23. According to NBA.com, he has a defensive field goal percentage of .471 this season, down from .504 in 2023-24.
Over the past 14 games Sengun is shooting 83.0% on free throws, up from 63.7% over the first 20 games. He has hit 21 3-pointers in 34 games this season after having 19 in 75 games played last season.
.@alperennsengun's performances last week earned him @NBA Western Conference Player of the Week!
Keep voting to get our guy into the @NBAAllStar game!
VOTE 👉 https://t.co/MAWRRV0QdF pic.twitter.com/okwQu8wuQR
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) January 8, 2024
