The Houston Rockets will continue the final multigame homestand of their 2021-22 season when the Sacramento Kings visit Toyota Center for a pair of games on Wednesday and Friday nights.
With the 2022 NBA playoffs not in the future for either team, both matchups should be unpredictable. With an eye on developing prospects — and perhaps on draft positioning, as well — each franchise has begun resting established veterans like De’Aaron Fox, Domantas Sabonis, Christian Wood, Eric Gordon, and Dennis Schroder. All indications are that those patterns will continue into Wednesday and beyond.
Thus, the results over the next three days are likely to depend on the performances of young players, starting with rookie guards Jalen Green and Davion Mitchell. The Rockets and Kings selected those two at No. 2 and No. 9, respectively, in the first round of the 2021 NBA draft.
Green enters with momentum, having averaged 26.0 points and 4.3 rebounds in 33.2 minutes over his last three games. He’s shooting 49.1% overall and 47.2% on 3-pointers, and despite their lowly record for the season as a whole, the Rockets are 2-1 in that span — with the lone defeat not settled until Monday’s final buzzer versus San Antonio.
The question is whether Green will have the presence of fellow first-round rookie Alperen Sengun alongside him. Sengun, who has begun starting at center in place of Wood, is averaging 13.0 points (48.4% FG), 7.3 rebounds, and 2.7 assists in 23.9 minutes over his last seven games. But he left Monday’s game early with a left leg bruise, and his status for Wednesday is not yet clear. If Sengun cannot play, sparingly used rookie Usman Garuba or third-year big Bruno Fernando would likely start.
Sengun left Monday's game and did not play in the fourth quarter. And for those playing with the idea that he is questionable for tanking reasons, no. Sengun is one of the guys, the only one of their five rookies that is still a teenager, they want playing down the stretch. https://t.co/TKspIkaYYB
— Jonathan Feigen (@Jonathan_Feigen) March 29, 2022
