The Houston Rockets were on the verge of completing a stunning rally from a 19-point deficit against the Orlando Magic on Thursday but needed one final push to get over the hump.
Up stepped reserve guard Reed Sheppard, who followed his 28-point performance against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday with 20 points against the Magic, including a pair of late 3-pointers that sealed the Rockets’ 113-108 road win.
Houston, which will continue its three-game road trip Saturday against the Miami Heat, produced arguably its most resilient performance of the season by erasing that deficit on the road to complete a back-to-back. Sheppard playing an integral role has become commonplace.
“Confidence, aggressiveness, like I always say,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said of Sheppard and his steady play of late. “They were really concentrating on him early: trapping a lot, had the bigs up, switching a lot of his actions. And he stayed the course. Missed some shots early … got out in transition, hunted his shots, and guys found him.
“The fact that he didn’t hang his head, like I mentioned, and stayed the course (was key). Came through when it counted.”
Sheppard has scored in double figures in eight consecutive games and is averaging 16.9 points on 51.6% shooting during that stretch. He drilled a career-best seven 3-pointers against the Kings and knocked down five threes in the two games sandwiching that scintillating display. Sheppard is shooting 49.2% from behind the arc during his run of double-digit efforts.
“They tried to pressure him, and he didn’t let that pressure get to him. He kept shooting,” Rockets forward Kevin Durant said of Sheppard. “The ball hit his hands, and it felt good. You could tell his mechanics, his footwork, his fundamentals were on point. As soon as he let those balls go, I felt they were going in.
“He was aggressive on the defensive side of the ball, getting his hands on some basketballs. And then on offense, he was playing with that pop that we needed him to play with.”
The Heat fell 124-117 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Thursday, their second consecutive loss. Miami trailed by 16 points at halftime and rallied to take its first lead on a Tyler Herro 3-pointer with 2:44 left to play but failed to score again.
Herro scored 25 points, while Bam Adebayo paired 29 points with 14 rebounds for the Heat. Miami lost All-Star guard and leading scorer Norman Powell to a groin injury after Powell logged only 10 minutes.
The Heat have been on a roller coaster since the start of the calendar year. Miami had its four-game winning streak snapped by the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 3 and hasn’t won more than two straight games since. Currently eighth in the East, the Heat are 12-14 over their last 26 games and have struggled trying to rise above a spot in the postseason play-in tournament.
“We’ve got to lock in and decide what we want to be,” Herro said. “I’ve been saying it for three or four years. We have to come with it at some point.”
–Field Level Media
