The Obvious Rockets’ Offensive Fix Ime Udoka Doesn't Seem Interested in Making

Kevin Durant’s return wasn’t enough to lift the Rockets’ offense to playoff-caliber levels. | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The Rockets are down 0–2 to the extremely shorthanded Lakers in their first round playoff series, and it’s all due to their offensive failings.

In Game 1’s loss on Saturday without Kevin Durant in the lineup, Houston scored 98 points while shooting 38% from the floor. It was bad but resulted in only a nine-point defeat so there was plenty of reason to believe KD’s return in Game 2 would change things. That didn’t turn out to be the case. Durant had 23 points in Tuesday night’s game but the Rockets finished 40% from the floor as a team, managed even fewer points in total (94) and still lost. Those numbers don’t even begin to paint a picture of just how ugly their effort was on that end, especially in the second half.

Los Angeles threw a ton of double-teams at Durant after he dropped 20 in the first half while missing only one shot. He was forced to give up the ball on nearly every possession. That shouldn’t have come as a surprise. Houston’s only big weakness this season has been a lack of scoring outside of KD. But the Rockets didn’t seem prepared at all to take advantage of the Lakers’ double teams, scrambling around in a panic instead of finding the cracks in the defense whenever he was forced to pass the rock. It led to numerous turnovers and more than a few missed opportunities to make wide-open shots that might’ve turned the tide.

And so they head back home down two games. The series isn’t over, of course. There are a few adjustments coach Ime Udoka can make to alleviate the pressure on Durant. At large these issues wouldn’t be nearly as problematic if Alperen Şengün was playing like the All-Star he’s supposed to be instead of shooting a combined 15-for-39 in the two losses so far.

But there is one easy, obvious solution that would go a long way towards solving Houston’s offensive woes. The problem is that Udoka doesn’t seem very interested in it.

Down 0–2 in the Rockets’ first-round playoff series against the Lakers, coach Ime Udoka must find solutions for his stagnant offense. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

That solution, of course, is Reed Sheppard. The second-year guard is by far the best volume three-point shooter on the roster, finishing the regular season at 39.4% on a team-high 7.0 attempts per game. His lack of defensive ability has made Udoka loathe to trust him but he seemed to earn that trust eventually, playing 26.5 minutes per game (mostly off the bench) for Houston as a sophomore. Sheppard played 35 minutes in Game 1 sans Durant and finished with only 17 points on 6-for-20 shooting—but he did hit five threes, nearly 50% of Houston’s total output from beyond the arc in the loss.

But with KD off the injury report Sheppard played only 10 minutes in Game 2. Crucially he played exactly four minutes in the second half, when the Rockets’ struggles were most pronounced, and only two of those minutes came alongside Durant. It goes to figure that having the team’s best three-point shooter on the the floor would have forced the Lakers to reconsider all those double-teams. Or at least think twice about it.

But Udoka didn’t push that button and didn’t seem to think it would have made a lick of difference when asked about the decision during his postgame availability.

“I think we were guarding well enough with the unit that we had,” the Rockets coach said when asked if he thought about playing Sheppard as the scoring dried up. “We went small, switched a lot of the actions, so stayed with that. Like I said, holding them to 101 [points] is enough. We just didn't score.”

Sheppard is definitely a weak spot defensively and Houston cannot switch everything when he’s on the floor. But his absence is key to the Rockets’ inability to score that Udoka pointed out as the main problem from Game 2’s loss.

Why Sheppard is the offensive fix Udoka has to make for Rockets

The Rockets are doomed without Sheppard’s shot-making in this series. | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

It’s a trade-off with Sheppard but one the Rockets don’t have any choice but to make. He ranked fifth with 13.5 points per game among his teammates, reflecting his talent as a natural bucket-getter that other rotational pieces lke Jabari Smith Jr. and Amen Thompson lack. If Houston is looking for an injection of offense it would be baffling to do anything other than play the talented scorer sitting four feet from Udoka on the bench.

But beyond that simple equation, the threat of Sheppard’s shooting would completely change the dynamics on the floor. The Lakers found success in blitzing Durant because there wasn’t a player they were afraid to leave alone, no dangerous shooters to worry about. Los Angeles coach JJ Redick schemed up all sorts of funky ways to double-team KD because he never once had to ensure there was a defender attached to a different player’s hip in fear of an open shot.

Sheppard just being out there would change that. The Lakers could still leave him open but it won’t be their first option. And if they do, he is immediately Durant’s best outlet out of double-teams, especially above the break. Just giving KD that option would make his life easier even if it doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll face fewer double teams.

His deep shooting also just gives the Rockets more room to operate regardless of who else is out there. In the 46 minutes Sheppard has played for Houston this postseason the Rockets own an offensive rating of 109.9 per 100 possessions, a number that plummets to 101.1 in the 50 minutes he’s spent on the bench. That doesn’t mean they play good offense with Sheppard out there but it’s the difference between “a bad offense” and “an all-time terrible offense” in 2026.

The Lakers aren’t going to make this easy if Udoka does go with Sheppard. LeBron James will relentlessly hunt and attack the diminutive guard. The Rockets will have to work hard to ensure he doesn’t single-handedly compromise their defensive scheme and can’t switch to the degree Udoka likes when he’s on the floor. But we saw what happened when the coach threw KD out there with a bunch of average shooters who play defense to Udoka’s liking in Game 2.

The Rockets are not out of this thing. Even after playing some of the worst offense we’ve seen in years they just barely lost to this shorthanded Lakers team. But they have no chance if Udoka doesn’t find a way to get Sheppard out there based on how Durant was defended in Game 2.

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