Sheppard explodes for back-to-back scoring barrages, transforming home games with dazzling threes and clutch play, igniting the Rockets' playoff push.
With back-to-back breakout performances against the Knicks on Tuesday and the Bucks on Wednesday, it’s safe to assume Reed Sheppard has found something at home.
Against the Knicks, Sheppard stuffed the stat sheet with 20 points on eight-of-12 shooting, including four threes at a 57-percent clip, five rebounds, a couple assists, plus activity on both ends with a block and two steals. 24 hours later, Sheppard hadn’t cooled off- he'd leveled up.
Nine threes. Nine.
On 9-of-14 (64-percent) shooting from the three, Sheppard dropped 27 points, added six assists, four rebounds, two steals, and didn’t turn the ball over once. Not one mistake. Just clean, confident, controlled offense from a guy who looks more comfortable every time he steps on the floor at home.
And the shots were not easy ones.
These are deep catch-and-release threes, and on Wednesday night, they bent defense. Milwaukee was forced to double him way beyond the arc, and the second they did, the floor opened up for everything else. Even Kevin Durant nailed a couple uncontested shots. What his scoring does for the offense as a whole is becoming just as important as his contribution to the math game.
Back-to-back nights like this don’t happen by accident.
This isn’t just a random heater- the Rockets have a sophomore player who has settled into a point guard role and understands where his shots come and how to create controlled offense. The reads are clean and the confidence is real.
Maybe more importantly, it’s happening when Houston needs it. After a stretch where Houston struggled from the arc, Sheppard is hot again and playing a key role in bumping the Rockets back up in the Western Conference standings, where they have taken back the fifth seed this week.
If Sheppard can stay consistent, and if he continues to shoot like this at home, stretch the floor, and give you efficient minutes without mistakes, that changes the math for this team.
Not just for the final four regular season games at Toyota Center, but for what comes next.