Reed Sheppard Rumors

Vanessa Richardson: Ime Udoka tells me Reed Sheppard will start tonight vs Hawks. Starting lineup: Reed Sheppard Amen Thompson Kevin Durant Jabari Smith Jr Alperen Şengün

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Will Guillory: Rockets escape with a 107-105 victory over the Pels. Kevin Durant hits the clutch jumper with 7.6 seconds left to put Houston up for good. Pels had this one in control and threw it away in the end. Durant finishes with 32 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists. Amen Thompson had 23 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists. Reed Sheppard added 18 points off the bench. Rockets desperately needed this win. Now, they prepare for games on Monday and Wednesday against the LA Lakers. Two of the biggest games they'll play the entire season.

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“My teammates are giving me the space to grow, and they’re pushing me to be aggressive. That’s made it a lot easier for me,” Sheppard told The Athletic. “It hasn’t always been perfect, but I’m working to fix the mistakes. I know I can play an important role for us to get where we want to go.”

New York Times

Still, it’s critical that Sheppard is given both the time, freedom and personnel to have his greatest output. Udoka has tried both approaches — allowing Sheppard to operate on the fly and calling him over to go through actual sets — and that combination is how the second-year guard can flourish, quickly. “It’s a little bit of both,” Sheppard told Yahoo Sports recently of how he sees the floor in real time. “The defense isn’t going to be the same every game or every trip down the court, so having some plays in your back pocket that you can go to no matter what.”

Yahoo! Sports

The Rockets have won four out of their last five games, with Sheppard averaging 19.2 points, 5 assists and 4.2 rebounds per game, shooting an impressive 46.3% from 3 on nearly 11 (!) attempts — in addition to 2.2 steals and 1 block a night. He’s third in minutes during that span and second in net rating while posting the best assist-to-turnover ratio on the team. Sheppard’s recent improvement as a creator is noteworthy. Whether it's because of a confidence boost, growing IQ or both, Sheppard looks poised with the ball in his hands, capable of making wraparound passes, finding downhill threats or simply keeping plays alive. According to Second Spectrum, Sheppard’s 63 assist points created over the past five games wedge him between Stephon Castle and LaMelo Ball — a good indication of his growth. In other words, he’s looked every part of a legitimate NBA starter. A really frickin’ good one.

Yahoo! Sports

“I think there’s always room for more 3s, but I like shooting 3s, so that’s me,” said Reed Sheppard, who is shooting 39.2% behind the arc this season. “The more we play with pace and continue to get into the paint, teams are going to have to make a decision whether to fan out or try to stay in the gaps, and if they do, it leaves us open to shoot more 3s. We have a lot of guys who can really shoot. It will change every night, because teams defenses are different but if we can continue to keep the pace up and get in the paint, then more 3s will be open for sure.”

Houston Chronicle

Mark Berman: Rockets beat Sacramento 128-97. Alperen Sengun: 26 points, 13 rebounds, 11 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. Reed Sheppard: 28 points including 7 threes (career high).

Twitter

Younger, less-accomplished players can see it for themselves. “I don’t see why not,” said Durant’s teammate on the Rockets, Reed Sheppard. “I think all of Europe is really cool. And, going over there would be cool to visit, but also be able to play basketball for sure.” “That’s a great question right there,” Knicks All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns said. “I would (consider playing in NBA Europe). I would. I really, I love international basketball, love playing FIBA basketball as well. Obviously, not better than playing in the NBA. But it would be pretty cool to even see that get off the ground and actually operate. But, possibly, one day to be part of that would be pretty cool.”

New York Times

The Athletic polled more than 30 NBA players in Los Angeles for All-Star Weekend about a variety of issues around the league. Below, players discussed their pick for the best player in the league, the biggest problem facing the NBA and which player (or former player) has the best podcast. Who is the NBA’s best player right now? Nikola Jokić: 5 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: 3 Luka Dončić: 2 Donovan Mitchell: 2 Six players: 1 No one voted for LeBron James or Stephen Curry, and one player voted for Kevin Durant (Reed Sheppard, his Houston Rockets teammate). This is no knock on any of the three American greats, especially James, the league’s all-time leading scorer who is arguably the best player ever (usually mentioned with Michael Jordan).

New York Times

Klay Thompson's response post-game to a Rockets reporter mentioning that Reed Sheppard's nickname is 'C*caine Curry': “Whoa...I think Reed's a great shooter. I don’t think anyone should be in the same sentence as Steph though. That's crazy."

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NBA Communications: The 2026 Castrol Rising Stars ⬇️ Tune in to @peacock tomorrow at 7 PM ET to watch honorary coaches Carmelo Anthony, Tracy McGrady and Vince Carter draft their teams from the pool of 21 NBA sophomores and rookies. Austin Rivers will serve as the honorary coach of the @nbagleague team.

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Will Guillory: Final: Rockets 111, Pistons 104 Big-time road win for the Rockets on the 2nd night of a B2B. Houston improves to 27-16, 5-2 over the last 7. Kevin Durant had 32 points on 11-19 shooting. Alperen Şengün had 19 points and 5 assists. Reed Sheppard scored 18 off the bench. Rockets hold the Pistons to 40.5 percent shooting in the 2nd half. Cade Cunningham only had 12 points and 8 assists. Gritty performance against the top team in the East.

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Mark Berman: Tremendous comeback for the Rockets, beating the Spurs 111-106. Houston was down 14 late third before going on a 13-0 run that led to the victory. Rockets have won three consecutive. Reed Sheppard with 21 points in 29 minutes. Largest comeback of the season after being down 16.

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Prior to the season, much was made about the Rockets' point guard situation given the ACL injury sustained by Fred VanVleet. Thus far, Ime Udoka has shown increased trust in second year guard Reed Sheppard to handle the ball, which has eased those concerns for now. However, recently, former NBA All-Star Jeff Teague took to his Club 520 podcast to drop some advice for Houston on how to get better in that department. “They need to trade for James Harden… Tell James you want him to play like he was in Brooklyn. Be the point guard… Him and [Kevin Durant] being together… They got a real chance,” said Teague.

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