Weekly positive-minded Houston Rockets team notes:
Jabari Smith Jr. had 12 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals in the win at Detroit on 1/28. He is the only rookie to have posted those numbers in a single game this season and is the first Rockets rookie to have done so since Hakeem Olajuwon.
Alperen Sengun averaged 18.3 points, 9.5 rebounds and 6.2 assists in January while shooting 62.4% from the floor. He had the first two triple-doubles of his career this month and became the youngest center in NBA history to record one.
Houston has outrebounded its opponent in each of the past seven games, tying for its longest streak since an eight-game span from 11/1-11/16/17. The Rockets lead the NBA in rebounding differential this season (+5.1 per) after finishing last in each of the previous two seasons.
Beginning with Wednesday’s game vs. Oklahoma City, the Rockets will play four of their first five games in February at Toyota Center before having five straight road games from 2/10-2/26 broken up by All-Star weekend.
