On Sunday night, the New Orleans Pelicans hosted the Houston Rockets at the Smoothie King Center. Right before the end of the first half, with the clock winding down, Rockets All-Star center Alperen Sengun threw an alley-oop lob to Amen Thompson.
The third-year forward out of the Overtime Elite League caught it one-handed and threw down a nasty jam, sparking reactions from the NBA community online.
NBA X Reacts to Amen Thompson’s Sick One-Handed Lob Dunk
Dejounte Murray, Yves Missi, and Saddiq Bey are all the Pelicans in the frame who could be blamed for this Rockets highlight. The Rockets would take a 68-47 lead into halftime.
As soon as the dunk sequence finished, the clip began circulating on the internet, and it created a buzz immediately.
The official NBA account posted, “ALPY TO AMEN FOR THE ALLEY-OOP SLAM.”
Hoop Central shared, “ALPEREN SENGUN LOB TO AMEN THOMPSON — OH MY GOODNESS.”
Biased Houston went as far as saying it is the “2025-26 Houston Rockets play of the YEAR.”
Hater Report posted, “Alperen Sengun behind-the-back dribble and lobs it to Amen Thompson. HOLY SH*T AMEN IS NOT HUMAN.”
The Rockets’ official account shared that it needs to be on SportsCenter’s top 10: “need this on #SCTop10 expeditiously.”
Rockets Clips shared, “SENGUN LOB TO AMEN OMGGGGGGG.”
Finally, Lachard Binkley posted, “This is one of the nastiest assists to dunks I have seen in a long time. Sengun and Thompson, my goodness.”
Rockets analyst Ryan Hollins can be heard on the call. “Watch him throw this up, and Amen Thompson reaches all the way back to OTE for this one big fella,” said Hollins. “Throws it down, he’s dunking from the rim, that’s how high he jumped.”
He then hopped in the comment section of the Rockets’ Instagram post and wrote, “That’s your starting center.”
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Thompson put up 14 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals as the Houston Rockets blew out the New Orleans Pelicans 134-102. Meanwhile, Sengun finished with 36 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks.
After the game, he expressed satisfaction with the team’s strong performance and win.
“It was one of those nights. I felt great. Came out to play, came out to win, and go home happy. So, I just try to win,” he said.
The Rockets head home to face the Knicks on Tuesday night at the Toyota Center.
