Rockets Fall to Clippers as Sheppard Shines

The Houston Rockets lost 134-117 to the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, despite Reed Sheppard's best efforts.

Houston started off hot from beyond the arc due to LA's defense breaking down from passing, but it started to cool off and the Clippers started playing their passing lanes through James Harden, forcing the Rockets to over-commit in the paint. Once Ime Udoka called a timeout after LA's nine-point run, Houston went into a zone defense, which helped them bring the score down to just one possession game at the end of the first quarter.

Sheppard hit a big three — the first of what would be a career-high of six — followed by a steal and score on the next possession towards the end of the period, giving him eight points.

Nicolas Batum started off the second quarter hot for LA. He started with three 3-pointers, two from the same left corner, and one from the right wing.

However, the Rockets were also hot from deep due to Jeff Green's shooting, and they were able to stay in the game. Los Angeles was able to pull away from Houston at the end of the second quarter due to shooting 9-for-13 in the last few minutes. The Rockets were forced to commit turnovers, and the Clippers took heavy advantage of that, especially with Kawhi Leonard heating up from fastbreaks. Los Angeles ended the half up 71-58. Sheppard was Houston's highest scorer at halftime with 11 points.

Nate Williams and Aaron Holiday were key players for Houston to cut the 19-point lead down to just 11 halfway through the third quarter. Williams started the third period and took the role of defending Harden, which he was able to force two turnovers. Holiday made a three-pointer to cap off a 9-2 Rockets run before the Clippers called a timeout. Houston's point-guard scored ten points straight, but then Los Angeles started double-teaming, leading them to end the third quarter up by 14 points.

David Roddy checked in during the fourth quarter and immediately got a block, which led to a transition three for Sheppard, putting the Rockets down by six points. The Clippers found a way to pull away from Houston once again, going up by 17 points due to Rockets' turnovers and missed shots. Sheppard ended the game with 20 points.

The Rockets face the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night at Crypto.com Arena. Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. CST.