BBNBA: SGA receives championship ring, Reed Sheppard attacked defensively

The 2025-26 NBA season tipped off on Tuesday night. We were officially introduced to our new (old?) pals at NBA on NBC, with Mike Tirico, Reggie Miller, and Jamal Crawford on the call for the season-opener. I enjoyed this crew — you can hear Miller’s love for the game in the way he commentates, and Crawford is going to kill it with his one-liners. Plus, Tirico is a legend. Roundball Rock was being hummed all night long in my household. NBC/Peacock has passed the first test. You’re up next, ESPN.

But before we look too far ahead on our inevitable path to criticizing the many (too many) streaming services we now have at our fingertips for NBA games, let’s talk about the on-court action from opening night. The Oklahoma City Thunder players received their championship rings (which came in a giant box with a video display inside; the main ring also had a smaller ring fitted inside of it) and watched as their title banner was hoisted into the rafters.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the league’s reigning MVP and Finals MVP, heard the loudest ovation as he was introduced onto the hardwood. He must’ve had a post-banner-raising hangover, though — his start to the game against the Houston Rockets was not as impressive as the end. After scoring just five points in the first half, Gilgeous-Alexander tacked on 30 more the rest of the way as the Thunder went on to beat the Rockets in a double-overtime thriller, 125-124. SGA hit a pair of freebies (after baiting Kevin Durant into a foul) with 2.3 seconds in the second overtime to seal the win, which was preceded by him knocking in a jumper with 2.1 seconds left in regulation that sent us to the first overtime.

SGA’s final line in his first game of 2025-26: 35 points, five rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in 47 minutes. Not bad from the MVP. And how about Cason Wallace, too? OKC’s third-year guard just continues to look better every season. He stuffed the stat sheet to the tune of 14 points (5-10 FG), seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals in his 41 minutes.

But it wasn’t all peaches and cream for former Kentucky players on Tuesday night. Second-year guard Reed Sheppard had an evening to forget for the Rockets. Thrust into extended playing time due to Fred VanVleet’s ACL tear in the offseason, Sheppard was one of the first off the bench against the Thunder. Although he did nail a couple of three-pointers in the first half (one a banker from the top of the key), Sheppard was a hunted traffic cone defensively from the moment he stepped onto the floor. OKC ran the “whoever offense” on Sheppard — if he was the one defending you, ATTACK HIM! That’s exactly what Thunder players, SGA chief among them, did.

It was noticeable, and it was bad.

The Rockets are counting on Reed Sheppard this season. Concerning first test — he got fried over and over when guarding drives last night. pic.twitter.com/fMexL4Nj2L

— Steph Noh (@StephNoh) October 22, 2025

Let’s keep in mind this was only game one of the season for Sheppard, who basically lost his entire rookie campaign due to a lack of playing time. He’s still learning how to play the NBA game. His final line was nine points (3-11 FG), four assists, two rebounds, one steal, one block, and a pair of turnovers in 27 minutes. On the surface, that’s not terrible by any means. But he was barbeque chicken on defense, and everyone in the building knew it. There also shouldn’t be many possessions where Sheppard takes a shot without Durant touching the ball once — that happened a handful of times against OKC.

There is a lot of room for Sheppard to grow. The schedule still has 81 more games left, if my math is correct. Houston head coach Ime Udoka at least gave Sheppard some actual run and let him play other than pinning him to the bench after a mistake, like most of last season. But if he can’t defend on a team that takes pride in that end of the floor, the leash will get tighter.

10/21/25 box scores

Player	Score	PTS	FG (3PT)	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	+/-	MIN
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (OKC)	125-124 (2OT) W vs. HOU	35	12-26 (1-9)	5	5	2	2	3	3	47
Cason Wallace (OKC)	125-124 (2OT) W vs. HOU	14	5-10 (3-8)	7	5	4	0	2	8	41
Reed Sheppard (HOU)	125-124 (2OT) L @ OKC	9	3-11 (2-7)	2	4	1	1	2	0	27
Jarred Vanderbilt (LAL)	119-109 L vs. GSW	0	0-4 (0-2)	3	0	1	0	2	-4	12

Tonight in the NBA

• 7:00 (ESPN): Cavaliers @ Knicks (Towns)
• 7:00: Nets @ Hornets (Reeves)
• 7:00: Heat (Adebayo, Herro: out) @ Magic
• 7:30: Raptors (Quickley) @ Hawks (Toppin)
• 7:30: 76ers (Maxey) @ Celtics (Williams)
• 8:00: Pistons @ Bulls
• 8:00: Pelicans @ Grizzlies
• 8:00: Wizards @ Bucks
• 9:00: Clippers @ Jazz (Tshiebwe)
• 9:30 (ESPN): Spurs (Fox: out, Johnson) @ Mavericks (Davis, Washington)
• 10:00: Kings (Monk) @ Suns (Booker, Brea, Richards)
• 10:00: Timberwolves (Dillingham, Juzang, Randle) @ Trail Blazers (Sharpe)

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