The Rockets Showing The Importance Of A Lead Guard

The Houston Rockets finally got a signature win against a Western Conference opponent, coming back to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the Bay to even their NBA Cup record. Reed Sheppard had his best game of the season, leading the Rockets to a big win with his scoring and playmaking. He supported an off game from Amen Thompson and Alperen Sengun to help secure the victory.

Sheppard's performance showed the importance for the Rockets to have a lead guard for their efforts against the league's top teams.

Houston is still hoping Sheppard or Thompson can become a full-time lead guard, but the Rockets have survived without depending on a single player taking all of the ball handling responsibilities. Their mix of improving defense and league-leading shooting have mitigated any loss from not having a true point guard to lead the team.

However, the impact of a lead guard is important against a team that has aggressive point-of-attack defense like the Warriors. The West runs through the Oklahoma City Thunder which has the league's best collection of point-of-attack defenders. Eventually, handling the ball will become a crucial part of any meaningful victory late in the season.

The injury to Fred VanVleet awakened some concerns that the Rockets would not have the required ball handling to survive against those types of teams.

They leaned on Sengun and Durant to handle the ball in the clutch, which sometimes has mixed results. Sengun is more of a sure handed ball handler, but there are still limitations when he can't receive the ball in an already established position in the post.

There are no other natural supplements for the team's ball handling, as Jabari Smith Jr. and Tari Eason are not the type of players who can handle more on-ball responsibility. Aaron Holiday has played well in his opportunites, but mostly as a scorer and not as a primary playmaker.

Sheppard displayed the best of both worlds against the Warriors, snaking to the middle of the floor for mid-range buckets, and opening space for his teammates to attack.

His efforts didn't lead to a high number of assists, but a lead guard on the Rockets doesn't have to be the team's leading assist-man. Sometimes, Houston's lead guard just needs to find efficient ways to get the team's best players the ball in impactful positions. They also need to be assertive when their players need support and aren't playing at their top capabilities.

Sheppard is still developing as a lead guard, but he showed the Rockets' potential against other top Western Conference teams when they get that sort of production from a perimeter player.