Alperen Sengun’s latest injury update keeps him in contention to play for Rockets vs Lakers (April 11)

Ahead of the Houston Rockets' clash with the LA Lakers tonight, Alperen Sengun's status is still up in the air. Per the 11:30 a.m. EDT injury report on NBA.com, after missing the team's most recent game against the LA Clippers, Sengun is listed as questionable for tonight's contest with the Lakers due to what's described as personal reasons.

Although it's unclear what personal issues kept the Houston star on the sidelines for the team's most recent game against the Clippers, the fact that he's listed as questionable keeps him in contention to play against the Lakers.

As JJ Redick told members of the press back in late March, opposing players often get upgraded to healthy ahead of games against the Lakers. Given that Alperen Sengun is dealing with unspecified personal reasons, however, there's no telling whether his status will be upgraded for tonight's contest.

Of course, Houston has already clinched a spot in the playoffs, and with just two games left to go in the regular season, including tonight's game against LA, the team has locked into the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference.

This will be the first time Houston has been in the playoffs since the 2020 season when they lost to the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals in what wound up being James Harden's last season with the team.

Looking at Alperen Sengun's stats against the Lakers this year, as well as Houston's record against LA ahead of final regular-season meeting

Alperen Sengun's status for tonight's game against the LA Lakers could very well be one of, if not the single biggest, deciding factors in how tonight's game will play out.

So far this season, Sengun and the Rockets have faced off with the Lakers twice, with tonight's game being the third and final regular-season meeting between the two teams.

The two sides faced off for the first time this season back in early January, with Houston picking up a big 119-115 win at home that pushed their regular-season record at the time to 23-12.

The game saw Sengun log 14 points, six rebounds and four assists over 31 minutes, while on the flip side Anthony Davis led the way for LA with 30 points, and LeBron James logged a 21-point 13-rebound double-double.

In their most recent meeting, LA was able to tie up the regular-season series with a 104-98 win over Houston on March 31.

Alperen Sengun logged another 14-point outing, this time adding seven rebounds and six assists to the box score over 35 minutes of action, while LA got some major contributions from its bench.

With the postseason right around the corner, only time will tell how things play out tonight.