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What Reed Sheppard Said About His Brutal Turnover After Ime Udoka Criticism of Rockets’ Collapse

Kristen Wong|
Rockets guard Reed Sheppard had a costly turnover late in regulation in Houston’s Game 3 loss to the Lakers.
Rockets guard Reed Sheppard had a costly turnover late in regulation in Houston’s Game 3 loss to the Lakers. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

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Houston RocketsLos Angeles Lakers

On the brink of winning their first game of their first-round playoff series, the Rockets choked. Houston shockingly gave up a six-point lead in the final 30 seconds of regulation, allowing LeBron James and the Lakers to force overtime. Los Angeles then closed out Game 3 with a 112–108 comeback win in Houston on Friday night to deal the Rockets one of their worst postseason losses in franchise history.

The loss was mathematically hard to stomach: NBA teams were 1713–1 when leading by six points or more in the last 30 seconds of regulation in the playoffs in the last 29 years, per NBA stats analyst Keerthika Uthayakumar. Now, teams are 1713-2, with Houston joining the 2024 Knicks.

After the Rockets’ stunning meltdown, coach Ime Udoka had some harsh words for his team. Udoka didn’t call out Reed Sheppard—who committed the costly turnover that helped the Laker tie the game—by name, but he did appear to criticize Houston’s young core.

“Want to say youth or scared of the moment, whatever the case,” Udoka said in his postgame presser. “You have a 6-point lead with 20 or 30 seconds to go, get a rebound, just got to hold the ball and get fouled. ... Backcourt, you got it, double’s coming, you try to split it instead of throwing it to Alperen wide open, another turnover, and James makes a tough shot.”

Sheppard, for his part, refused to make any excuses for his brutal mistake. When asked about his role in the Rockets’ late-game collapse, the guard took full accountability for the play.

“No, I played basketball long enough,” Sheppard said, rejecting a reporter’s leading question on whether playoff inexperience hurt him in that moment. “Dribbling up the court with 30 seconds left is dribbling up the court with 30 seconds left.

“There's never an excuse. ‘He hasn’t been in a playoff game, he hasn’t been in that environment.’ It doesn’t matter. It’s just simple basketball. I should have made the right play and not turned it over. That was the one thing that could beat us, was a turnover and a three in that situation. So no.”

Sheppard received more playing time in Friday night’s loss since Kevin Durant was ruled out due to an ankle sprain. He finished with 17 points, four rebounds and seven assists while committing a team-high five turnovers.

How Rockets gave up a six-point lead in 30 seconds in Game 3 loss to the Lakers

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James scores a three-point basket late in the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets.
LeBron James had an incredible sequence to tie the game for the Lakers against the Rockets late in the fourth quarter. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

Let's revisit Houston’s string of poor decisions that led to the Lakers tying things up in regulation in game 3.

With roughly 30 seconds remaining in regulation and leading 101-95, the Rockets were bringing the ball up the court with one clear goal: keep the ball, and run down the clock. But a bad pass from Jabari Smith Jr. was quickly intercepted by Lakers’ Marcus Smart, who then successfully drew a foul on his three-pointer attempt.

Smart sank all three of his free throws to make it a one-possession game.

On Houston’s next possession, disaster struck again.

The Rockets had just called a timeout and subbed in Reed Sheppard to try to close out the final 25 seconds of regulation. Sheppard got the ball in the backcourt where he was being aggressively defended by LeBron James. As Sheppard tried to dribble the ball down the middle of the court, James poked the ball away into the hands of Marcus Smart. In the ensuing transition, James eventually got the ball back for an open three-pointer, and the rest is history.

James and the Lakers now hold a commanding 3–0 lead in the series over the Rockets, and that’s without injured stars Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves. Game 4 is Sunday night in Houston.

On the message Udoka gave to his team after the ugly defeat, the Rockets coach simply said, “Grow up, and you’re not that young anymore.” Sheppard and the rest of Houston’s youth are certainly trying their best.

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Kristen Wong
KRISTEN WONG

Kristen Wong is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. She has been a sports journalist since 2020 and has a bachelor’s in English and linguistics from Columbia University. Before joining SI in November 2023, Wong covered four NFL teams as an associate editor with the FanSided NFL network and worked as a staff writer for the brand’s flagship site. She is a lifelong Liverpool fan who enjoys solving crossword puzzles and hanging out at her neighborhood dive bar in NYC.

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