Tonight, as the Houston Rockets attempt to extend their winning streak to three against the Indiana Pacers, the team has faced some unforeseen setbacks. Their starting center, Alperen Sengun, has been ruled out tonight with a left soleus strain, and here’s the latest on his status.

“He played through it for a game or two,” Rockets head coach Ime Udoka told the media before the game. “Then it got worse during the Lakers game, felt worse afterwards.”

Sengun’s injury supposedly started earlier this season, but after the team’s Christmas Day game against the Los Angeles Lakers, it was apparently re-aggravated. This marks his second-straight missed game with the injury, having sat out of the team’s matchup against the Cleveland Cavaliers last Monday.

The 23-year-old’s official injury designation is ‘questionable’ due to a soleus strain. According to Udoka, the team is hopeful that his setback is a “short-term thing and we have him back next game.” The Rockets next travel to New York to play the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday.

The hope is to have the center back soon. This season, he is averaging career bests in points and assists with 22.7 and 6.8 each, adding on 9.4 rebounds on solid efficiency.

Meanwhile, in his absence, the Rockets have relied upon their solid big man depth to weather the storm.

How will the Houston Rockets line up without Alperen Sengun?

Tonight, the team started Steven Adams at tipoff, along with Clint Capela for spot minutes. The team has deferred its playmaking duties to Kevin Durant and Amen Thompson, and they have combined for 11 assists so far.

Without Sengun, who is the Rockets’ primary hub and leading playmaker, the team has leaned fully into a position-less offensive system, which they displayed against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The result was a convincing 117-100 win built on quick decision-making and shared ball touches.

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Kevin Durant carried the scoring load with 30 points, but the offense didn’t orbit around him, but instead flowed through him. Reed Sheppard provided solid production off the bench, looking like a solid replacement for Fred VanVleet following his preseason injury.

That freedom comes with risk. With so many ball handlers in the offense, the margin for error shrinks dramatically. Against Cleveland, the Rockets managed well, preventing too many turnovers and holding possessions together. Every player punished the defense when given the opportunity, calmly finding open teammates to turn defensive attention into easy offense.

Their opponents from Indiana now walk into that environment at a low point. The Pacers have lost eight-straight games, falling to last in the Eastern Conference, and posting the league’s worst offense with a 108.8 offensive rating. Injuries to key players have stripped them of any sense of continuity, and the group clearly struggles to give full effort for the whole 48 minutes. Against a Rockets team already comfortable in the chaos and constant motion, that margin for error is even thinner.