Houston Rockets head coach Stephen Silas is an astute individual who has been around the NBA long enough to know that winning games in the league has a lot to do with being lucky and having highly skilled athletes.

Wednesday night, the second-year head coach watched his young team pull off a huge 139-130 overtime win over the veteran-led Los Angeles Lakers. He recognizes that rookie Jalen Green wowed the crowd with his array of moves down the stretch; the game may have been won before it even started.

Without center Christian Wood in the lineup due to an illness he suffered after the Rockets defeated Memphis this past Sunday, coach Silas was forced to insert rookie center Alperen Sengun into the starting lineup against the Lakers. That move looked like a win-win situation for Los Angeles, who used their superstar forward LeBron James at the center position the last time the two teams met in a 132-123 defeat over Houston. James finished the game with a triple-double. It was the first time he had played that position in his entire basketball career.

Lakers head coach Frank Vogel and the rest of his staff didn’t factor into Wednesday’s game was how much more advanced Sengun has become since their last meeting. In the late December loss, Sengun came off the bench and only played a total of 15 minutes and scored only 10 points. He was much more effective in his seventh start of the season with a career-high in points (21), rebounds (14), and minutes (40) as he found himself consistently matched up on the future first-ballot NBA Hall of Fame player in LeBron James.

“First of all, it’s a big honor for me,” Sengun said about playing against James. “It’s a big memory, a big moment. I was excited before the game because I knew I was going to play against him, I knew I was going to match up with him. And all these years, I watched him since I was a kid.”

Sengun, 19, used an array of low post moves he learned during a private session with NBA Hall of Fame center and Rockets legend Hakeem Olajuwon to keep the Lakers defenders off-balance the entire game. The ability to retain the knowledge and put it into action made coach Silas notice how far his rookie center has grown this season.

“On the offensive end, when teams are smaller, he can take advantage,” said coach Silas. “He has the shoulders, and he has the hips, and he has the feet and the soft touch to score in the paint. And the rebounding was huge.”

The former Turkish League MVP also recognizes the improvement he has made. Although the Rockets season will be ending shortly, he knows that every minute he is on the court is an opportunity for him to get better.

“Since the beginning of the season I have been working a lot,” Sengun said in his postgame press conference. “I feel that I am improving. I have improved a lot and I have worked on my offense and defense throughout the season.”

Houston (17-49) will take on their in-state rivals, Dallas Mavericks (40-26), on Friday at the Toyota Center.