Has Ime Udoka Changed the Rockets’ Rotation? JD Davison Over Reed Sheppard Explained
The Houston Rockets picked up a 119–113 win over the Chicago Bulls, but the final score wasn’t the biggest takeaway from the night.
Despite a late fourth-quarter surge from Jabari Smith Jr., the Rockets once again struggled with shooting consistency, defensive lapses, and closing out a shorthanded Bulls team. But the most surprising development came from Ime Udoka’s rotation decisions — specifically JD Davison playing crunch-time minutes over Reed Sheppard.
JD Davison finished with 9 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, zero turnovers, and strong defensive impact, earning 25 minutes as the first guard off the bench, while Reed Sheppard played fewer minutes and watched the closing stretch from the bench. Was this a one-game message, or the start of a real rotation shift?
We break down:
Why Ime Udoka trusted JD Davison late
What Reed Sheppard is struggling with defensively
Jabari Smith Jr.’s “Big Shot Bari” debate
Why point guard play remains a deadline concern
What this could mean once injuries clear up
With back-to-back games coming up, the next two matchups could tell us whether this was an anomaly — or a preview of what’s ahead for the Rockets rotation.
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9 Comments
JD is just an average NBA PG but he is the only PG rockets have. Looked like JD is replacing Aaron’s minutes while limiting Amen and Reed’s possession of them being PG. Amen is natural SF and Reed is natural SG, I’ve seen enough to give my verdict that Amen does not have handling, vision and the wits to be point guard, it’s like watching KPJ trying to act like PG during Silas era
All it shows me is Udoka has no idea what he wants to do with his guards. Holiday gets an DNP then starts and plays 31 minutes and follows it with another DNP. The team energy is low on the court except for Amen. He will do anything not to start Reed for some reason. Be nice to get off to good start offensively it has been a while.
Team has been playing bad for a couple weeks I have no issue with the coach shaking up the rotation.
This team has too much talent to be getting beat by the suck ass teams lately
Who tha Fvck is Davidson 😂
37 GP | 25.4 MPG | 12.9 PPG | 2.6 RPG | 3.2 APG | 1.4 SPG | 0.6 BPG | 44.4 FG% | 40.4 3P% | 77.3 FT% | 1.2 TO
Sheppard is a high-impact defensive playmaker, not just a “tries hard” defender:
He consistently creates extra possessions. At 1.4 steals + 0.6 blocks per game in 25.4 minutes, that’s 2.0 “stocks” per game (~2.8 per 36 minutes)—rare production for a guard and a strong proxy for anticipation, timing, and active hands.
The on-court results back it up. StatMuse lists his defensive rating at 112.9 this season, versus a shooting-guard positional average of 116.7 (lower is better), implying materially stronger defensive outcomes when he’s on the floor.
He has game-level proof of disruption. He’s already posted a 5-steal game vs. Cleveland and a 3-block game vs. Brooklyn—impact plays that swing possessions and momentum.
This is consistent with his track record. At Kentucky he averaged 2.5 steals per game and reached 80 steals in a season—elite “reads + reaction” defense that has translated.
What more do you want from a second year player who is 21 years old, only played one year of college ball (and came off the bench during that one year) and continues to improve despite erratic lineups and minutes being thrown at him from the coach? You guys are just being lazy with that bad defense narrative, do some research maybe before spitting out unfounded garbage? No wonder nobody watches this channel.
The disrespect for Jabari is crazy.
Reed refuses playing PnR with Alpi and KD… he wants use the ball in every fucking time. JD knows how playing PnR with teammates, reed doesnt know
I want JD to bring back the Super Saiyan hairdo he had at Alabama