{"id":694229,"date":"2026-04-02T16:49:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:49:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694229\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T16:49:35","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T16:49:35","slug":"playing-free-reed-sheppard-erupts-as-rockets-win-fourth-straight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/694229\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Playing free\u2019: Reed Sheppard erupts as Rockets win fourth straight"},"content":{"rendered":"

HOUSTON — Reed Sheppard scored a team-high 27 points and connected on a career-high nine 3-pointers as Houston held off Milwaukee on Wednesday night, 119-113 (box score<\/a>).<\/p>\n

The Rockets (47-29) climbed to the No. 5 spot in the Western Conference standings<\/a>, while the Bucks (30-46) remain at No. 11 in the East and are eliminated from postseason contention.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Both teams were occasionally sluggish on night two of a back-to-back, and the final margin was certainly closer than expected<\/a>. But fortunately for the Rockets, the firepower from their second-year guard proved too much for the short-handed<\/a> Bucks to overcome.<\/p>\n

Sheppard made 9-of-14 shots from 3-point range (64.3%) for the game, and he also added 6 assists, 4 rebounds, and 2 steals while not committing any turnovers. The Rockets were +17 in his 37 minutes and -11 in the 11 that he sat out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy teammates were able to find me early,\u201d Sheppard told Space City Home Network\u2019s Vanessa Richardson<\/a>. \u201cOnce those first couple went in, they kept looking for me. It was fun.\u201d<\/p>\n

Houston is now 39-12 when scoring 110 or more points in a game this season. After a 19-game sample averaging 108.3 points, the Rockets are averaging 119.0 points over their past nine games.<\/p>\n

As a team, the Rockets had 30 assists to only 7 turnovers on Wednesday, with many leading to their 18 made 3-pointers (on 42 attempts, 42.9%). During their current four-game winning streak, Houston has recorded 30+ assists four straight times for the first time since March 1986, a span of more than 40 years.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

In that streak, the Rockets are averaging only 10.0 turnovers per game, a dramatic reduction from their 17.8 average over the previous six games. Their assist-to-turnover ratio over those four games is 3.20.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re playing free,\u201d Sheppard told reporters postgame<\/a>. \u201cEverybody is playing with a lot of confidence right now. We\u2019re getting really, really good shots, and we\u2019re sticking with what\u2019s working. Just playing simple basketball. Making the extra pass.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGuys are giving high-fives, smiling and happy. It\u2019s been a lot of fun the last couple games, for sure. Great vibes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beyond limiting turnovers, head coach Ime Udoka pointed to improved off-ball actions<\/a> as a key factor in Houston\u2019s recent growth on offense.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Sheppard returned to the starting lineup Wednesday after being used as a reserve in Tuesday\u2019s victory<\/a> over the New York Knicks (for matchup reasons<\/a>, per Udoka). Going forward, the 21-year-old said he\u2019s fine with either configuration.<\/p>\n

\u201cMe and Tari (Eason) have talked, and neither one of us care who starts,\u201d Sheppard told Rockets Wire\u2019s Brian Barefield<\/a>. Sheppard indicated that his approach and preparation are the same, regardless.<\/p>\n

The Rockets are now 13-2 this season in games where they make at least 15 3-pointers, and they are 21-6 when shooting 40.0% or better from deep. For the 2025-26 season, Sheppard\u2019s 211 made 3-pointers leads the Rockets<\/a> and ranks No. 11 in the entire NBA<\/a> \u2014 an impressive feat relative to his 26.4 minutes per game average.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

Beyond Sheppard \u2014 whose nine treys were one short of the franchise record for a single game \u2014 other individual statistics of note included:<\/p>\n

Alperen Sengun: 25 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals; 9-of-13 shooting (69.2%), 2-of-2 on 3-pointers, 5-of-6 on free throws (83.3%)<\/p>\n

Kevin Durant: 19 points, 9 assists, 5 rebounds; 7-of-16 shooting (43.8%)<\/p>\n

Amen Thompson: 18 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals; 5-of-10 shooting (50.0%), 8-of-8 on free throws<\/p>\n

Jabari Smith Jr.: 12 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 blocks; 5-of-15 shooting (33.3%), 2-of-8 on 3-pointers (25.0%)<\/p>\n

Ousmane Dieng (Bucks): 36 points, 10 assists, 7 rebounds, 5 turnovrs; 15-of-31 shooting (48.4%), 1-of-7 on 3-pointers (14.3%), 5-of-5 on free throws<\/p>\n

Jericho Sims (Bucks): 20 rebounds, 8 offensive<\/p>\n

Cormac Ryan (Bucks): 25 points, 4 assists; 9-of-14 shooting (64.3%), 4-of-7 on 3-pointers (57.1%)<\/p>\n

Durant is averaging 8.2 assists over his last five outings, up from 4.7 for the season as a whole. The All-Star forward has recorded six or more assists in five straight games for the first time since March 2022.<\/p>\n

Houston will wrap up its homestand with Friday\u2019s matchup versus the rebuilding Utah Jazz (21-56). Tipoff is at 7:00 p.m. Central from Toyota Center, and the game will be televised and streamed regionally via Space City Home Network<\/a> and nationally on NBA League Pass<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A win over the Jazz would give Houston a five-game winning streak, which the Rockets haven\u2019t enjoyed since prior to Thanksgiving<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Advertisement<\/p>\n

More: Under Ime Udoka, Rockets lead NBA in after-timeout scoring efficiency<\/a><\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: \u2018Playing free\u2019: Reed Sheppard erupts as Rockets win fourth straight<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON — Reed Sheppard scored a team-high 27 points and connected on a career-high nine 3-pointers as Houston…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":694230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3794],"tags":[1307,883,7,103,26291,2225,292,194,4066,1272,2497,2762,938,102,6,191,6609,1081,211,3709,361,1101,427],"class_list":{"0":"post-694229","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston-rockets","8":"tag-alperen-sengun","9":"tag-amen-thompson","10":"tag-basketball","11":"tag-bucks","12":"tag-cormac-ryan","13":"tag-eason","14":"tag-houston","15":"tag-houston-rockets","16":"tag-houstonrockets","17":"tag-ime-udoka","18":"tag-jabari-smith-jr","19":"tag-jericho-sims","20":"tag-kevin-durant","21":"tag-milwaukee","22":"tag-nba","23":"tag-new-york-knicks","24":"tag-ousmane-dieng","25":"tag-reed-sheppard","26":"tag-rockets","27":"tag-space-city-home-network","28":"tag-the-bucks","29":"tag-the-rockets","30":"tag-utah-jazz"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116336142949954898","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=694229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/694229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/694230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=694229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=694229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=694229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}