Reed Sheppard picked a pretty good time to level up. The Houston Rockets guard went off for a career-high 31 points, powering a 104-100 comeback win over the Golden State Warriors on the road in NBA Cup group play. He filled up the ESPN box score, too, adding nine rebounds and five assists as Houston erased a double-digit deficit and looked completely unfazed by the Chase Center crowd.
It did not start pretty. The Houston Rockets trailed 59-47 at halftime and were down by as many as 14, still shorthanded without Kevin Durant and Steven Adams. But Ime Udoka’s group flipped the game after the break, winning the third quarter 27-17 and opening the fourth with a quick burst to finally grab the lead. From there, it felt like Reed Sheppard had his fingerprints on everything. Pull-up jumpers, pocket passes, and, eventually, game-sealing free throws.
Alperen Sengun quietly played the perfect co-star. The center finished with 16 points, six rebounds, and six assists, working as a high-post hub while the Rockets turned 16 Golden State turnovers into 22 points. Houston also owned a 53-47 edge on the glass, surviving a cold shooting night (39 percent from the field, 28 percent from three) by just generating more extra possessions via the ESPN Box Score.
The Golden State Warriors got 21 points, five rebounds, and five assists from Jimmy Butler III, plus 18 points from rookie Will Richard and 14 from Stephen Curry, but never found a way to slow Sheppard once he really got rolling. Moses Moody’s three with six seconds left cut it to two, yet Reed Sheppard calmly buried both free throws to shut the door.
