Since Fred VanVleet tore the ACL in his right knee in September, the 2025-26 Houston Rockets have seen the fifth spot in their starting lineup become a revolving door.
Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun, Amen Thompson, and Jabari Smith Jr. remain entrenched as starters, assuming health, and Ime Udoka has tried different options to surround that quartet.
With occasional exceptions for game matchup reasons, the majority of fifth-starter opportunities went to Josh Okogie during a two-month window from the Oct. 21 opener until Christmas. Then, from Christmas until mid-March, Tari Eason got the call. And finally, from mid-March until mid-April, most starts went to Reed Sheppard.
Now, with the 2026 playoffs only a week away, the Rockets (51-29, tied for No. 4 in Western Conference standings) could be going back to where they started.
In Friday’s matchup versus the Timberwolves (47-33), Okogie got his second straight start. The 27-year-old, 6-foot-4 guard had 9 points (50.0% FG) and 11 rebounds as a starter during Thursday’s victory over Philadelphia, and he earned postgame praise from Udoka for his defense and energy.
On Tuesday, Okogie also replaced Sheppard to start the second half of Houston’s comeback win at Phoenix.
Earlier Friday, Udoka spoke to SportsTalk 790’s Matt Thomas — the team’s radio play-by-play broadcaster — about his options for that fifth spot. Regarding what each player brings to the lineup and rotation, Udoka said:
I think they all bring separate things.
With Josh out there, he started the season (in that role). He’ll take some of the (defensive) pressure off of Amen (Thompson) and guard the best guy for a few minutes.
Reed out there gives us another handler and initiator. It’s something that works well, and differently, than Kevin (Durant) and Amen in the pick-and-roll.
Tari is all around, just doing what he does.
They all give us something different. Obviously, the playoffs will be matchup based, but we see what we like and don’t like with the units and how we can stagger them… and kind of insert other guys into the lineup, as well. So, it’s not just about the starters. It’s what we want coming off the bench, with some balance and not having all of our handlers out there at one time.
“The Matt Thomas Show with Ross” airs on 790 AM from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. on weekdays.
Udoka’s last comment, regarding “not having all of our (ball) handlers out there at one time,” could point to using Sheppard off the bench. Additionally, lineups featuring both Sheppard and Sengun have struggled defensively for most of this season.
Even so, the coach did leave some wiggle room. Prior to Friday’s tipoff, Udoka reiterated to Rockets Wire that his starting lineup for the playoffs has yet to be decided and that it would still “depend on matchups.”
Denver (52-28) and the Los Angeles Lakers (51-29) are most likely to be Houston’s opponent, followed by a small chance of Minnesota. The Rockets and Nuggets enter the regular season’s final weekend holding the NBA’s longest active winning streaks of eight and 10 games, respectively.
This article originally appeared on Rockets Wire: As playoffs near, Rockets start Josh Okogie ahead of Reed Sheppard
Reporting by Ben DuBose, Rockets Wire / Rockets Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
