Alperen Sengun, hot-shooting Rockets take on Nets

Alperen Sengun sat out with a calf injury and enjoyed the sight of others stepping up as the Houston Rockets built a massive lead and produced one of their best shooting performances of the season on Monday.

The good news for the Rockets is Sengun is probable for Thursday, and the center expects to return from a two-game absence during a visit to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Rockets are attempting to win four straight for the third time this season. Houston twice won five straight in the opening weeks when it started 10-3 while scoring more than 120 points seven times.

Sengun missed his fourth game of the season when the Rockets led by as many as 28 before playing reserves in the fourth quarter and shot 59% in a 126-119 home win over the Indiana Pacers on Monday.

Steven Adams started at center for Sengun but exited with a right ankle sprain that makes him questionable Thursday.

Former Net Kevin Durant scored 30 for the second straight game. Durant has not scored 30 in three straight games but the Rockets do not necessarily need him to do so since Sengun is averaging 22.7 points and has four 30-point games this season, as well as 16 double-doubles.

The Rockets are also getting production from Jabari Smith Jr., who scored 21 on Monday. Smith finished four shy of his season high and is shooting 44.7% (21 of 47) from 3-point range in his past six games.

“We’re gonna need that going forward,” Durant said about Smith. “Me and ‘Bari talk a lot about taking the shots that we want to take. Never letting the defense dictate what we do out there. Using our length and using our size to get shots off. ‘Bari has just been tough to stop down in that post and knocking down that 3. He’s been doing everything for us.”

The Nets allowed the Rockets to shoot 57.6% and score 66 points in the paint in their 137-109 loss at Houston on Oct. 27. The first meeting was part of Brooklyn’s season-opening seven-game losing streak but the Nets are 10-13 since then, including 7-4 in their past 11 games.

Brooklyn’s three-game winning streak was stopped when it lost an early 13-point lead and allowed 57.9% shooting from the field in the fourth quarter of a 120-107 home loss to the Golden State Warriors on Monday. It was only the second time in the past 20 games the Nets allowed at least 120 points.

Compounding matters for the Nets on Monday was their 27 personal fouls, resulting in 34 free throws. It was Brooklyn’s fourth highest foul total and fifth-most free throws allowed this season.

“This is disappointing because there’s things you can control, and it’s your energy … how you talk to teammates, and (there was) frustration at times. We dropped our shoulders too much,” Nets coach Jordi Fernandez said. “We’ve just got to be better, and it reflected in our defense, with our attention to detail, our activity.”

Michael Porter Jr. scored 27 Monday and was Brooklyn’s leading scorer in four of the past five games. Rookie Egor Demin tied a career high with 23 points by hitting seven 3s, but the Nets were outscored 56-30 in the paint.

Brooklyn is hoping to get a better performance from its reserves. The second unit totaled 62 points in Saturday’s 16-point win at Minnesota but was held to 27 on Monday.