The Houston Rockets' Monday night contest against the Washington Wizards proved to be more difficult than anticipated, especially with the Wizards seemingly looking to lose games intentionally to gain better lottery odds. The Rockets ended up winning by just five points, 123-118, and they had to weather an early exit from Amen Thompson, who exited after just around four minutes in the fourth quarter due to an ankle injury.
Houston's depth was already shaky enough as it is, and Thompson's early departure only served to make things worse for the team. But when a man goes down, an opportunity for someone to step up arises, and that's exactly what Reed Sheppard did.
Sheppard did not have the best of shooting nights; he went 7-18 from the field and just 4-11 from beyond the arc. But the Rockets sophomore more than made up for it with his disruptiveness on defense, playmaking, and stat sheet-stuffing ways.
He swiped the ball six times on the night, blocked two shots, recorded 10 dimes, and hauled in seven boards and in so doing, he became just the fourth sophomore in NBA history to tally at least 15 points, five rebounds, 10 assists, five steals, and two blocks in a single game, joining Larry Bird, Alvin Robertson, and Alexander Volkov as the only ones to do so, as per StatMuse.
Reed Sheppard is impressing the Rockets brass
The Rockets' contending identity is built on grit and defense, and Sheppard appears to be the antithesis of such an identity, as he tends to play with a more free-flowing style and he's not the most impactful on defense, steal numbers notwithstanding. But Sheppard is stepping up on that end of the floor, and this is going to be key for him to earn more minutes under head coach Ime Udoka.
With Thompson facing a potential multi-game absence due to ankle troubles, Sheppard could be in for a strong finish to the 2025-26 campaign.
