The red-hot Charlotte Hornets roared past yet another Western Conference heavyweight on Thursday, beating the Houston Rockets 109-99 at Toyota Center. The Hornets were hunting Alperen Sengun on defense on the night, and Kevin Durant wasn’t happy with the kind of effort his Turkish teammate put in on one occasion in the second quarter.
“Play some defense,” Durant said.
Kevin Durant was pissed at Alperen Sengun for not playing defense
“PLAY SOME DEFENSE.”pic.twitter.com/u9RwUwRiAb
— Fullcourtpass (@Fullcourtpass) February 6, 2026
Those were probably two of the easiest points that Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel has scored in his career. Sengun absolutely had to do better there, and Durant was right to be upset.
Not much went right for Sengun here against the Hornets. The 23-year-old finished with just seven points (3-11 FG), nine rebounds, five assists, and one block as the Rockets suffered their second straight defeat. He wasn’t at his best last time out either.
Sengun had 13 points (5-12 FG), nine rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block in the 114-93 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday. We are focusing on the defensive issues here, but the Rockets’ scoring less than 100 points in back-to-back games is concerning. They are looking more and more like pretenders than contenders.
The Rockets are 31-19 on the season, but they are only 11-9 in 2026. They are one of three teams that didn’t make any moves at the trade deadline, and it will be interesting to see how the rest of their campaign pans out.
As for the here and now, Sengun has to start doing better when teams are hunting him the way the Hornets were. You’re not expecting him to be anywhere near as good as someone like Victor Wembanyama, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
Rockets head coach Ime Udoka was asked postgame about the Celtics and Hornets hunting Sengun, and made it clear this isn’t a recent issue.
“It’s been the case since I’ve been here,” Udoka said. “So, no different there.”
That was brutal. Sengun’s struggles shooting the ball were also brought up in the press conference, and Udoka had a message for his big man.
“I mean, shots he’s made since I’ve been here and, getting good looks there,” Udoka stated. “So, that’s not the problem. Players allow offense to dictate their game in general. And to your point, give some away on defense when you’re not as engaged because you’re not scoring. And so it’s not just an Alperen thing. I think a lot of guys were going through shooting problems, and you let it affect your all-around game.
“And so the shots he’s getting are decent,” Udoka continued. “I think he’s going to see some doubles as always, but he’s getting really good looks deep in the paint, and he’s been up and down as far as that. But want the aggression to be there. What you saw in Indiana, we need to see that… but like I said there’s other ways to impact the game than scoring, and I don’t want him to equate a great game with just scoring only.”
Udoka has been giving Sengun tough love ever since he became the head coach in 2023, and he’s not going to change his ways now. You’d like to see a reaction from the one-time All-Star the next time he steps out onto the court.
As for Durant, he had 31 points (11-21 FG), three rebounds, one assist, and five steals against the Hornets. The 37-year-old was the Rockets’ best player on the night, but he did commit six turnovers. The Rockets had 18 as a team and conceded 27 points off them. That is a recipe for disaster.
The Rockets will be in action next against the Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on Saturday at 3:30 PM ET. The Thunder will be without the likes of Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, so alarm bells will start to ring if the Rockets suffer their third defeat in a row.
