Alperen Sengun has become essential on both ends because of Rockets depth

The Rockets suffered their first loss of the season on Friday night with Alperen Sengun sidelined and clearly missed his contributions. Although the Rockets still got some solid scoring from their frontcourt, Sengun's absence clearly hurt their offense - and also had a surprising impact on their defense. With Clint Capela left as the starting center, his weaknesses on both ends compared to Sengun were obvious.

Sengun is the Rockets' best center on both ends

To be fair to Capela, he did have some nice plays against the Mavericks. He finished the game with just 5 points, but also added 11 rebounds (6 of them offensive), 5 assists, 2 steals and 2 blocks. However, he couldn't match the complete offensive production of Sengun, who is a legitimate star that makes life easier for all his teammates.

The offensive gap should be clear and expected, considering that Sengun is playing at an All-Star level and averaging 25 points, 9 rebounds and 7 assists per game this season. Few, if any, centers are matching his offensive output across the entire NBA. So Capela was never expected to come close there at age 32.

But Capela also looked worse on defense compared to Sengun. His 2 steals and 2 blocks were helpful, but his agility and reaction speed weren't enough to slow down the Mavericks' onslaught of perimeter scoring. He didn't have a chance of getting stops against players like Cooper Flagg and Kyrie Irving on switches or hedges, and even his contests often came late.

Sengun has surpassed Capela defensively this season with his own improvements, combined with Capela's athletic decline. Clint can no longer jump up to block shots effectively without being late and either allowing a bucket or getting a goaltend called on him. Sengun's own solid defense has been better for the Rockets this season, even if he doesn't get as many home-run plays.

The Rockets' center depth is looking very suspect

Capela isn't a bad center to have as a depth piece. If he was the Rockets' third-string center as planned, he could excel in his role. However, Steven Adams (the intended backup) has continued to be very injury-prone this season and placed even more pressure on his fellow centers to play and perform.

Sengun can hardly afford to miss any games if Adams is constantly sidelined because that will thrust Capela into a starting role that doesn't suit him any more. Beyond those three, the Rockets only have one other real center option in Oscar Tshiebwe, a two-way player. Obviously, they can't afford to have him play big minutes in important games so Sengun's health is paramount unless the Rockets can get Adams back to consistent health or figure out another center solution.

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