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One outing was all it took for No. 3 overall pick in this June’s NBA draft, Reed Sheppard, to turn heads with his three-point shooting prowess.
Sheppard was at the heart of an offensive firestorm that saw the Houston Rockets down the Los Angeles Lakers, 99-80, Friday night from inside the Thomas & Mack Center.
The contest marked the summer league debut for Sheppard and the Las Vegas summer league debuts for two 2024 draft picks for the Lakers in Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, both of which Sheppard has a rich history with.
“I remember when [Bronny and I] played against each other in the third grade,” Sheppard said. “Then we’ve played every year and then here now playing in the NBA.
“Me and Dalton got to play against each other a lot last year, a couple of times. Dalton’s an unbelievable player – he’s a really good scorer so it was fun to go out there and play against him.”
Sheppard started the night a perfect 4-for-4 from three-point range before suffering his first miss from deep. The hot shooting performance came after a six-point first half for the Kentucky Wildcat product.
“It’s basketball so there’s highs and lows,” he said. “Nobody’s perfect so [I’m] just keeping a positive mindset through it all and just going out and having fun playing basketball the right way.”
As Sheppard’s shooting picked up, so did the entire Rockets team in nearly every aspect. A nine-point halftime lead for Houston would be stretched to 19 points before the end of the third. That lead eventually swelled to as large as 23 points in this one.
Los Angeles fell behind by 11 points in the first half behind an 11-2 second quarter run from its opponent that shifted the game.
“It’s different,” Sheppard said. “You’ve never played in this type of setting, you’ve never played with the type of guys that you’re playing with – you practice with them but the more games you play the more comfortable you get.”
With the win all but sewn up, Sheppard threw down a two-handed flush dunk in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter. He’d finish with 21 points and four of the team’s seven made threes.
Teammates Cam Whitmore and AJ Griffin led all Houston scorers with 24 points apiece.
With much buzz anticipated for the desert debut of the son of future Hall-of-Famer, LeBron James, Bronny had a much more aggressive start to Friday’s game. He would attempt five shots in the game’s first four and a half minutes on his way to a cold 3-for-14 shooting night as he finished with eight points and five rebounds.
“I just feel like I’m in a slump,” the second round pick said.
Knecht made his presence felt in every way except scoring early in the game, racking up rebounds and assists including assisting on a right-hand punch from the aforementioned James.
“[Head coach J.J. Redick] said ‘just be aggressive,’” Knecht said. “Just keep getting better every single day.”
With the stat sheet beginning to fill up, Knecht found his shooting stroke in the second quarter which included nailing a turnaround one-legged, Dirk Nowitzki-esque fadeaway from the top of the key.
Knecht led all scorers with 25 points on 50% shooting and five made threes. He also added six rebounds, four assists, a steal and a block.
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