Michael Shapiro is a sports reporter for Chron, covering the Astros, Rockets, Texans and every team in town. Michael is a Denver native and graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, and a noted fan of pull-up threes, wide-receiver passes and a good hot fudge sundae.

Rookie guard Reed Sheppard filled it up in his first game with Houston’s G League affiliate, finishing with 49 points, 6 assists, and 3 steals.

That is certainly proving true with Reed Sheppard. Just two years ago, Sheppard was seen as the local throw-in for a John Calipari recruiting class that was the best in the country. Cal had three of the top five recruits in the nation -- Justin Edwards,

Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun combined for 36 points in a runaway third quarter and the visiting Houston Rockets erased an early double-digit deficit to beat the Washington Wizards 135-112 on Tuesday.

The Washington Wizards started off hot against the Houston Rockets, pulling out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter. They managed to keep pace with the Rockets in the second quarter until a late run gave Houston the lead for good.

In the first quarter, the Houston Rockets shot like the worst shooting team in the NBA (which they were entering the game), and the period ended with the Washington Wizards leading, 30-20. And then the Rockets shot like they were facing one of the league’s worst defenses and outscored 115-82 over the remaining three quarters and coasted to a comfortable 135-112 victory.