The Houston Rockets may not have been able to overcome the Denver Nuggets on Friday night in NBA Cup action, taking a 112-109 defeat, but there were a few positives for them to take away from that contest. One of those is the play of sophomore guard Reed Sheppard. With Houston in need of a perimeter shot-creator and a playmaker in the aftermath of Fred VanVleet's season-ending injury, Sheppard is stepping up as of late to fill a huge void.
Sheppard finished with 27 points and four assists in 37 minutes off the bench. He made five triples and was very efficient, making nine of his 13 field-goal attempts on the night. He was a plus-13 as well for the Rockets in a three-point defeat.
It is now apparent that Sheppard is more than just a shooter. He affects the game positively for the Rockets with the spacing he provides, and his ballhandling allows their offense to be that much more coherent. And he's convincing fans and media members that he's a star in the making with every consistent stretch he puts together.
In fact, Bill Simmons of the Ringer even evoked Mark Price's name in observation of Sheppard's performance on Friday against the Nuggets.
“This Reed Sheppard emergence is exciting. Every game there’s a 6-minute stretch where it looks like the Rockets cloned Mark Price,” Simmons wrote on his official account on X (formerly Twitter).
Price was one of the most efficient scoring point guards of his time, so being compared to him must feel very good for the nascent Rockets guard.
Rockets need Reed Sheppard to pop off
There is plenty of opportunity for Sheppard to establish himself as an important piece of the Rockets rotation especially amid injuries to key guys such as Tari Eason, Dorian Finney-Smith, and VanVleet.
His rookie season may have been dreadful, but it's not like Price set the world on fire when he began his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers. During Price's rookie year, he averaged a mere 6.9 points in 67 games while playing just 18.2 minutes a night off the bench.
Price then blossomed as a perennial 50-40-90 threat while leading the way for a contending Cavs team. Can Sheppard follow a similar trajectory?
