Houston’s Game 1 loss hinged on one critical oversight: failing to funnel offense through their star big. Game 2 demands Sengun dominate.
Houston lost Game 1 simply because Alperen Sengun wasn’t at the center of their offense. Point blank.
All season, this offense has had a very clear identity. It runs through Sengun. He’s the guy who organizes everything. He’s notching on average 20.4 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 6.2 assists a night for a reason. The ball is supposed to find him. And that didn’t happen nearly enough on Saturday.
Instead, the Rockets spent it playing a version of offense that felt… improvised. You could feel it slipping a little more each quarter. And the Lakers were more than happy to let that happen.
When Sengun is fully in control, defenses don’t get to sit comfortably. They have to react and are forced to send help. Opponents have to deal with the fact that he’s just as likely to pick them apart with a pass as he is to score.
Game 1 was dropped because coaching failed to recognize that not just late, but almost not at all. Running the offense through young guards was a painfully obvious error- one that failed to adjust even when it was clearly not working.
He was involved, sure… but there’s a big difference between being part of the offense and being the offense. Houston leaned away from that distinction at the worst possible time.
Game 2 doesn’t need a complete overhaul. It doesn’t need anything complicated. It just needs Houston to commit to what already works- putting the ball in Sengun’s hands and letting the game run through him.
When that’s happening, this team looks a lot more like itself. And a lot less like what we saw in Game 1.