Reed Sheppard Returns for Rockets, Helps Spoil ATL's Home-Opener

The Houston Rockets just faced their toughest test in this early NBA season. Since the San Antonio Spurs were the Western Conference Champions last year, there’s no way to downplay Houston’s Friday night win in Austin —— their follow-up performance might have been even more impressive, though. 

After playing in the nightcap and flying in at 4:45 in the morning, this team had to take on the Atlanta Hawks. Maybe not the highest level of competition at first glance, but they started the season 2-0, fresh off of a franchise record 47-point win. 

Not to mention, Atlanta still has most of the same roster from last season, and they took two games off of the New York Knicks in the playoffs. That’s more than can be said about the Spurs, who have struggled to start the year. 

Considering this was the second night of a back-to-back, Ime Udoka had a undermanned roster at his disposal. Fred VanVleet and Steven Adams were both resting for injury management, but Marcus Smart’s absence was a surprise. 

That made it all the more important for Reed Sheppard to touch the court after being listed as questionable again. He sat out on Friday after having a tough shooting night in his season debut. Everyone was curious to see if he was to play, and we got our answer very early on. 

His knee didn’t appear to bother him at all, getting plopped straight into the starting lineup. He even made a couple three-pointers in the first quarter, giving Houston a nice boost right out of the gate. His biggest contributions came a bit later in the game, though. 

After the Rockets built up a 20-point lead midway through the third quarter, Atlanta was able to cut it to 11 in a few minutes. With rest and homecourt advantage on their side, a comeback was in the cards for the Hawks. I must admit, my palms were getting a little sweaty. 

Sheppard was able to put an end to that run with a pull-up from 15 feet away, but then picked up his fourth foul shortly after. Not to worry, as he got a steal seven seconds later, turning that into a lob for Tari Eason. Almost immediately after that, he assisted KD for another dunk. 

His playmaking got him the confidence to drain two from deep, and miss an absolutely audacious, but respectable heat-check. I can’t blame him after he almost singlehandedly pushed the lead back to 20.

Without that burst to start the fourth quarter, I don’t think Houston walks away with a win. He finished with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals. Being tied with KD for the highest plus/minus (+19) shows just how big of an impact he had in their seven-point win. 

More from RocketsRoundtable: 

The Houston Rockets Need to Win More Road Games This Season

Back-to-Back’s Were the Houston Rockets’ Kryptonite Last Season

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Bogdan Bogdanović Could Steal Reed Sheppard’s Minutes in Houston