The Houston Rockets are 4-0 to start the season, following their second straight win over the Atlanta Hawks. The Rockets are looking like a more fluid team, which has drawn the attention of Kevin Durant.
Durant started by praising Rockets big man Alperen Sengun’s focus on both ends of the floor and pointing to the improved spacing around him.
"We encourage him every day to continue this."
Kevin Durant praised Alperen Şengün's growth and focus after the @HoustonRockets win. pic.twitter.com/DPTUdKY7D1
— NBA TV (@NBATV) October 27, 2026
“He just looks focused, locked in on both ends. It helps that we got more spacing around him too: guys that can shoot, catch and shoot, catch and drive.”
He then took aim at opposing teams that have tried to defend Sengun one-on-one, suggesting they bought into the negative narrative about him.
Article Continues Below“Teams playing one-on-one down there in the post at the elbow, thinking that they can stop him, must have read a lot of bad articles this summer about him. They feel like they can get a stop on him one-on-one, and we love that matchup every time down, no matter who’s on.”
Durant closed by explaining what his teammates need to do to support Sengun and take pressure off him.
“We just got to be ready to knock down shots, be ready to cut for him and just play with aggression, because he’s going to get tired. It’s going to be times where he’s banging, banging, can’t get a shot off. It’s on us to be a safety valve and relieve some of that pressure from him. We encourage him every day to continue this, and we got support here for him.”