The Houston Rockets pushed deeper into the NBA Cup chase on a night when Reed Sheppard’s career-high became the clearest sign yet of his breakout and shifted his team’s momentum. But Ime Udoka insisted the real story for the Rockets wasn’t the scoring. It was everything wrapped around it: the steadiness, the defense, and the way Sheppard held the game together when Houston needed a pulse.

Ime Udoka didn’t just praise the numbers; he praised the control that now shapes the Rockets’ backcourt. He highlighted Reed Sheppard’s jump from last season’s 4.4 points on 35.1 percent shooting to 14.3 points on 48.8 percent and a scorching 45.5 percent from three. His 2.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists, and 1.6 steals have nearly doubled across the board. Yet Udoka pushed attention toward the end tha

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