Summer League Notes: Reed Sheppard steals the show Day 1

2024 NBA Summer League – Houston Rockets v Los Angeles Lakers

LAS VEGAS —The Thomas & Mack was packed with Lakers fans who came to see Bronny James.

Everyone left talking about Reed Sheppard.

The Rockets No. 3 pick was the star of the first day of the Las Vegas Summer League and finished with 23 points, hitting 4-of-6 from 3, with five assists (there would have been more if his teammates finished plays) and some ankle-breaking moves.

As the game went on, Sheppard looked more and more comfortable — more like himself.

It was Bronny who drew the Sheppard assignment to start and for large parts of the night.

“I know he’s a great shooter, so I was just trying to get in his body and prevent those 3-balls from going up,” Bronny said.

It didn’t work.

“It’s really cool,” Sheppard said of facing Bronny in this setting. “I remember when we played against each other in like third grade and we played every year and here now playing in the NBA. I’m happy for him. He’s a great player. He’s a great kid.”

A lot of things looked right for Houston as second-year player Cam Whitmore added 20 points and 10 rebounds. Whitmore was also mentoring Sheppard, talking to him on the bench.

“So that was just a defensive thing that he was talking about,” Sheppard said. “That’s the good thing about Cam he played last year and he knows he knows the small things that I don’t know. So just having him over there, helping me teaching me better taking me under his wing. And just giving me advice throughout the whole game was pretty cool.”

Here are other notes from the first day of the NBA’s official Las Vegas Summer League.

• The showcase game of the day was the No. 1 and 2 picks from last month — Zaccharie Risacher of the Hawks and Alex Sarr of the Wizards — and both men had rough patches but also showed off their potential.

Risacher finished with 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, showing off some fluid athleticism in the process.

Sarr was an impressive rim protector who had a few monster blocks, but, as advertised, his offense is a work in progress. He floated through plays and finished with 12 points on 4-of-12 shooting, with seven rebounds and…

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Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2024-07-13 11:58:03

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