Rockets C Alperen Şengün to miss up to 2 weeks after suffering sprained ankle in loss to Mavericks
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The Houston Rockets expect to be without All-Star center Alperen Şengün for up to two weeks.

Şengün went down with a right ankle injury very early in the team’s 110-104 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Saturday night. While he doesn’t have a specific timeline for his return — the team is planning to evaluate Şengün again in the coming days — head coach Ime Udoka confirmed on Monday that Şengün will likely miss up to two weeks recovering.

“We’ll evaluate him at the end of the week,” Udoka said, via Sports Illustrated’s Lachard Binkley. “Need to get the swelling, the pain tolerance down and mobility, but you’re looking at a probably 10-14 days type thing.”

Roughly a minute into the game on Saturday night at the American Airlines Center, Şengün went up to try and fight for a layup with Mavericks center Daniel Gafford. But as Şengün came down, his right ankle rolled hard. That sent him crashing down to the court, where he remained until play stopped at the other end.

This is the play where Alperen Sengun got hurt, rolling his right ankle when landing on a rebound attempt. https://t.co/vEohvYuD61pic.twitter.com/VVxGTjqmQh

— ClutchFans (@clutchfans) January 4, 2026

Şengün eventually limped off the court, and was quickly ruled out of the game.

Şengün is in the middle of a career season with the Rockets. The 23-year-old, who made it to his first All-Star Game last year, has put up a career-high 21.8 points this season while averaging nine rebounds and 6.5 assists per game.

While this will at least briefly interrupt his dominant start to the season, and Şengün has a history of ankle injuries that has limited him in the past, the timeline seems relatively minor. If Şengün is out the full two weeks, he would be back in time for the team’s matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Jan. 20 — meaning he would miss eight games.

The Rockets are entering Monday night’s contest with the Phoenix Suns with a 21-11 record, which has them in fifth in the Western Conference standings. Saturday’s loss to the Mavericks snapped a four-game win streak.



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