Houston Rockets rookie Alperen Sengun is expected to play Friday on the road against the Sacramento Kings after missing the last seven games due to a sprained ankle.
Sengun suffered the injury on Dec. 31 in a loss to the Miami Heat after he appeared to turn his right ankle in the first half. The Rockets initially said Sengun was questionable to return but he would leave the game and not come back.
The 16th pick had made steady progress since initially suffering the injury and returned to practice on Saturday. Sengun was listed as questionable to play on Wednesday versus the San Antonio Spurs but was eventually held out of action.
With Sengun set to return to the lineup, the Rockets will have a clean injury report for the first time this season. They are expecting to have every player available to play on Friday, with the exception of John Wall.
“I was telling everybody before we watched film, this is our first time having a full group healthy and available,” Rockets head coach Stephen Silas said, via Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. “We had three teams in practice today, which is great, and we had a spirited game of 4-on-4 afterward instead of 2-on-2 or 1-on-1.”
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With the Rockets back at full strength, it is unclear how that may change their rotations moving forward. The team may opt to ease Sengun back into action so he may not log his season average of 18.4 minutes on Friday versus the Kings.
Sengun has emerged as a key rotational player with the Rockets, averaging nine points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 35 games. He produced his best game of the season on Dec. 15 with 19 points, 11 rebounds and five assists in a loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
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