Reed Sheppard is Finally Looking Comfortable in the Rockets' Offense

Houston's second-year guard started the season with some up-and-down games, but his game has finally looked consistent through early November.

Oct 27, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Reed Sheppard (15) handles the ball against the Brooklyn Nets during the second quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | Erik Williams-Imagn Images

It's only been nine games, but the improvement that Reed Sheppard has displayed from the first few games of the season to early November has been extremely fun to watch. The Houston Rockets are 6-3 after a statement road win over the Milwaukee Bucks last night, and Sheppard was a big part of that.

The second-year guard had perhaps his best performance of the season thus far, putting up 16 points, two assists, four steals and a block. He was a force on both sides of the ball, looking comfortable against the Bucks, including Giannis Antetokounmpo, whom he stole the ball from on one occasion, and then got the superstar with a pump fake for an easy pull-up jumper on another.

Reed Sheppard’s full highlights: Look at the defensive playmaking… https://t.co/CJ7AfliVzY pic.twitter.com/K0vzppJBOU

— Bradeaux (@BradeauxNBA) November 10, 2025

Coming into the season, Sheppard was due for a big role with veteran floor general Fred VanVleet out for the season with a torn ACL. The Rockets have been running the point guard by committee, and the 6-foot-2 sophomore had some growing pains early on. Remember, he barely got meaningful minutes last season, playing mostly in garbage time for a 52-win team.

However, over the last week and a half, Sheppard has turned it up a notch. In his last five games, he's averaging 12.2 points, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting 57.5% from the field and a staggering 57.7% from three.

Much of Sheppard's game is 3&D-esque, but he can also put the ball on the floor and playmake. On October 27 against the Brooklyn Nets, he put up 15 points and four rebounds while dishing out eight assists.

This could be the turning over of a new leaf for Sheppard, one of more consistency and two-way production. This is why the Rockets drafted him No. 3 overall in the 2024 NBA Draft. At Kentucky, he shot an incredible 52.1% from three while leading the SEC in steals per game with 2.5.

Again, it's early, and no one expects Sheppard to be this efficient every night. However, it's a positive sign, and there's a lot of pressure riding on him specifically.

Houston is in win-now mode with Kevin Durant at the helm. If Sheppard had continued to struggle through the first few weeks of the season, it would have opened up trade rumors as the Rockets navigate life without a true point guard. He's still young, so nothing would have been too major, but there's always pressure to perform on a potential title contender.

Now that Durant is here, Houston is increasing the pace both in development and in on-court production. Sheppard has begun to adapt to that, which is promising to see.