Reed Sheppard Stats Tonight: How did the Rockets rookie fare against Sacramento Kings (Dec. 3)
Reed Sheppard and the Houston Rockets visited the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday for an Emirates NBA Cup game. Houston has been eliminated from the competition, while Sacramento topped the West Group A. Both teams continued hunting for wins to improve their regular-season standing.
The No. 3 pick in the 2024 NBA draft watched from the sidelines as the Rockets grabbed a 28-21 first-quarter lead. He did not see action until the start of the second quarter. The former Kentucky star played six minutes and scored four points on 2-for-2 shooting. Rockets coach Ime Udoka took him out with 6:26 remaining for Fred VanVleet.
Reed Sheppard played the last 16 seconds of the third quarter. He scored a jumper off a pass from Tari Eason to cut the Sacramento Kings’ lead to 93-84. Kings guard Malik Monk responded with a 3-pointer to push Sacramento to a 96-84 advantage heading into the fourth quarter.
Sheppard hardly played in the final frame. He started the period and missed a 3-point attempt before he was substituted by Fred VanVleet. The rookie returned with 1:52 remaining in the game for Tari Eason. He handed an assist but missed another attempt from deep.
Reed Sheppard has hardly played in his last four games
Against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, Reed Sheppard played 10 minutes, which continued the trend of hardly seeing action for the Houston Rockets.
On Sunday versus the OKC Thunder, the rookie logged a 10-minute appearance. He finished the game with five points on 1-for-5 shooting, including 1-for-4 from deep. Sheppard went 2-for-2 from the free throw line to get his total.
In back-to-back games against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Philadelphia 76ers last week, he totaled 15 minutes. The Rockets' first-round pick went 0-for-5 combined in those games.
It remains to be seen when Ime Udoka would give him more minutes to develop. Right now, he can hardly get into the rotation that includes Fred VanVleet, Jalen Green, Tari Eason and Amen Thompson.