'He's My Brother': Alperen Sengun Excited To Play Christian Wood In Rockets Battle vs. Mavericks
Alperen Sengun spent his entire rookie campaign guarding Christian Wood during practice, as the two respective parties served the 2021-22 season as teammates with the Houston Rockets.
But when the 2-12 Rockets take on the 8-5 Dallas Mavericks Wednesday night inside the American Airlines Arena, Sengun will face Wood for the first time as an opponent.
"He's my brother, and I learned a lot from him last season," Sengun said. "I am excited to play against him."
General manager Rafael Stone made his first significant move of the off-season by sending Wood to the Mavericks in June. The Rockets received several players back in exchange, and an additional first-round pick used to acquire rookie point guard TyTy Washington Jr. during the 2022 NBA Draft.
Wood's departure allowed coach Stephen Silas to start Sengun at center entering his sophomore season. And since taking the helm following a knee injury to Bruno Fernando, Sengun has played some of the best basketball of his young career, averaging 16.2 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists over the last nine games.
Sengun said he learned a lot in the one season he spent playing alongside Wood.
As a stretch-shooting big man, Sengun said he learned how to defend players at his position who can step out to the perimeter to nail threes. But he may not spend much time playing against Wood in Dallas, who has become an early Sixth Man of the Year candidate during his first season with the Mavericks.
Wood has come off the bench during his first 11 games and is averaging 15.9 points and 7.5 rebounds on 58.7/45.5/64.5 shooting splits.
"He's a great player, but that's the NBA," Sengun said. "They [the Mavericks] played in the conference finals last season and kept the same team together. He is a shooting big man. He can dribble. And he is quick. I'm excited to play against him."
Wood played two seasons with the Rockets after joining the franchise as a free agent in December 2020. He averaged 19.1 points, 10.0 rebounds, and 1.0 blocks across 109 games in Houston.
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