West Notes: Rockets, Alperen Sengun, Suns, Kevin Durant, Nuggets

Rockets

Forward/center Alperen Sengun is out of his walking boot, according to Kelly Iko of The Athletic.

Sengun suffered a Grade 3 ankle sprain and has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. But at least he seems to be progressing to the point where he could soon begin offseason activities (assuming the Rockets don’t make the playoffs).

That’s good, given he’s coming off a career year.

Sengun is averaging 21.1 points, 9.3 rebounds and 5.0 assists this season while shooting 53.7% from the field, 29.7% from beyond the arc and 69.3% from the free-throw line. 

The Rockets will not make the play-in tournament this season, so it makes no sense for Sengun to play again.

Houston can sign Sengun to a rookie-scale extension this summer. All signs point toward that happening. 

Sengun has career averages of 14.9 points, 7.9 rebounds and 3.8 assists. He was the 16th overall pick in the 2021 NBA Draft. 

• Guard Jalen Green and the Rockets are indeed finding their stride in perhaps a push for the play-in tournament, wrote Michael Shapiro of the Houston Chronicle.

Suns

Former NBA forward Paul Pierce said he is “disappointed” that Suns star Kevin Durant hasn’t done enough to be part of the GOAT debate.

“I’ve been kinda disappointed in KD’s team success … He says why isn’t he mentioned in the GOAT conversation,” Pierce said on Undisputed, via Clutch Points. “If we put [Durant] at the same standard as we do Stephen Curry and LeBron James, he just hasn’t met those requirements.”

Durant won two titles after joining the Warriors, but they’ve also won two without him.

• In case you missed it, the Suns are signing veteran guard Isaiah Thomas to a 10-day contract. We have the full post here and some team reaction here.

Nuggets

The Nuggets barely lost on the road to the Mavericks and it took a crazy, running, off-handed hook shot from guard Kyrie Irving to make it happen.

Translation: That’s hardly a sign that Denver has been anything but the best team in the West since the All-Star break.

“I saw Kyrie Irving make a running, left-handed hook from the elbow,” coach Michael Malone told reporters when asked what he saw on the final sequence. “We’ve been on both sides of it.”

• Malone appeared more bothered by the fact the Nuggets were outrebounded by a whopping 59-37 count. “I can’t remember the last time we got outrebounded by 22,” he said.
• Denver is 11-2 since the All-Star break. The other defeat also came in a close one, when Durant hit a 3-pointer to send a game into overtime, where the Nuggets lost to the Suns.

Ashish Mathur contributed to this story.