Fred VanVleet ‘went off on everybody,’ helped spark Rockets behind Alperen Sengun’s 43

Alperen Sengun supplied the biggest numbers. Fred VanVleet supplied a message the Rockets apparently needed to hear.

After watching a 12-point lead turn into a 10-point deficit against the Jazz, VanVleet let his teammates have it. Then he helped Houston recover for a 125-118 win Friday.

“He was pissed off with the unit that was in. Kind of went off on everybody, fired himself up, brought the juice and the energy,” coach Ime Udoka said in his postgame news conference⁠. “So we ran him a little bit longer in the third; loved the energy he brought.”

VanVleet scored 10 of his 17 points in the third quarter. Sengun finished with 43 points, 12 rebounds and five assists, shooting 17-of-24 while committing just one turnover.

“He was dominant. He fouled some guys out. They were blitzing him, and he was finding all the right guys,” Udoka said of Sengun.

“And he picked them apart so well that they stopped going after him, and he had the matchups that he liked, and we liked.”

Sengun kept the offense going through the difficult stretches and delivered late. VanVleet helped get everyone’s attention along the way.

“You know Freddie, he’s always there for us. Fired the team up when we’re sleeping,” Sengun said, as reported by Fadeaway World’s Chaitanya Dadhwal. “Fred has always been that guy; that’s what we need.”

“Now we all do the same thing when the team is sleeping. Me talking, K talking, Bari talking, but you know we call Fred ‘admiral’ for a reason. So he comes out there, wakes everybody up, and plays his a– off.”

The Rockets have won three straight and face the Wizards on Sunday. Udoka would presumably appreciate getting through that one without needing another wake-up call.