Ime Udoka praises Rockets guard Reed Sheppard for his NBA Cup career-high and a breakout built on defense, toughness, and two-way growth.

The Houston Rockets got stuck in a tough group in the NBA Cup, which means Wednesday night could be their final game of this year's in-season tournament.

The Houston Rockets are proving that they firmly belong in the title conversation after weeks of elite two-way basketball. Most recently, they proved they could without their star scorer in Kevin Durant, defeating a hot Phoenix Suns team 114-92 on Monday night.

The Rockets’ early success comes with warning signs that could impact their long-term championship hopes in 2025-26.

Here's where things stand in the NBA Gold Cup ahead of Friday's game. The knockout stage quarterfinals run from Dec. 9-10 with two games on each day. The semifinals will commence three days later on Saturday, Dec. 13 and the Finals will be on Tuesday, Dec. 16.

On "Warriors Postgame Live," the crew discusses Golden State's 104-100 loss against the Houston Rockets on Wednesday night at Chase Center.Steph Curry leaves injured as Warriors fall to Rockets in fin

Nobody else has dove in on offensive rebounding to the extent the Rockets have, with their massive 38.5 percent offensive rebound rate after an offseason spent adding ever more size to go with their already formidable frontcourt. But in a copycat NBA, this could be the latest Houston-initiated math hack that ends up widely imitated.

This article was originally published on www.si.com/nba/rockets/onsi as Houston Rockets Will have Trade Options Should They Choose. It’s not often star point guards are available on the trade market, but that’s exactly the case in this year’s NBA.