Reed Sheppard provides solid point minutes off the Rockets bench

In their last NBA Cup group game, the Houston Rockets lost a double-digit lead over the weakening Sacramento Kings.

Fortunately, the team was still able to sneak in as one of the final eight teams and will face Western Conference rival Golden State on Wednesday, December 11th at 8:30 p.m. CT.

A bright spot in Houston’s 9-point loss to Sacramento on Tuesday night was freshman Reed Sheppard, who provided some rare positive minutes as a reserve.

In just 10 minutes, Sheppard was able to take five shots and hit three of them, scoring six points. He finished the game with a plus-minus of +10, missing his only two triples, but with an assist he tied for the second-highest plus-minus of the night. The stats weren’t necessarily impressive, but the young rookie was undoubtedly positive, something that has rarely happened before.

This season, Sheppard has failed to string together several positive games. In his first few games, he scored just 3.8 points on 37% shooting. His patented 3-point shot – his primary weapon at the collegiate level – has yet to catch on at just 33%.

Still, Sheppard has a sky-high ceiling and endless time to improve.

The team suffered its seventh loss of the season on Tuesday, but managed to maintain its No. 2 seed in the West with a loss to the Grizzlies.

Ironically, Houston’s next game is against its soon-to-be NBA Cup rival, the Warriors, this time on Thursday, December 5th at 9pm CT.