5 things for the Rockets to be thankful for

2. Alperen Sengun

Alperen Sengun has been one of the more unheralded players in the league through his first two seasons, as not many people knew about him. Well, not enough people knew about Sengun. Sengun has been one of the best centers in the league this season and has averaged 20.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 5.5 assists, 58.1 percent from the floor, and 61.6 percent true shooting.

Sengun is even making 37 percent of his triples, and has become more comfortable attempting them (career-high 2.1 attempts per contest).

In fact, the Rockets, too, didn't seem to know just how good he was, as they opted to start Bruno Fernando over him, which is somewhat embarrassing to admit, as Fernando has registered six consecutive DNPs for the Atlanta Hawks. 

Sengun is playing at an All-Star level and made a clutch bucket over NBA legend LeBron James with the game on the line. Sengun has drawn praise from the national media, as analysts can't help but gush over his play. 

Case in point, ESPN's Tim MacMahon, who raved about the 21-year-old center on The Lowe Post.

"Sengun is their centerpiece right now. He's their star. When he puts up 23, 12, and 7, you're not surprised. That's kinda what he does now.....he had go-ahead bucket where he muscled LeBron. If you're doing that at age 21, you've got something."

If Sengun keeps this up, he could nab the Most Improved Player of the Year award.