Rockets Guard Reed Sheppard Questionable for Monday's Celtics Game; Fred VanVleet Is Not on the Injury Report

HOUSTON - The Houston Rockets will spend Monday morning watching the injury report. Guard Reed Sheppard is questionable for Monday night's game against the Boston Celtics at the Toyota Center with a back injury, the listing the club carried on Sunday, after he missed Houston's last two games.

Sheppard's absence has already reshaped the bench rotation: Bogdan Bogdanovic played 19 minutes off the bench in Saturday's win over Oklahoma City, and the same workload is the expectation if Sheppard cannot go again. At center, Clint Capela is also questionable with an ankle injury - he started Friday's loss to Dallas and played 10 minutes off the bench in Saturday's win - though the listing matters less at the five, where starter Alperen Sengun is available.

The clearest news in the backcourt is who is not listed. Fred VanVleet, held out of Saturday's win because it was Houston's second game in as many nights, is not on Monday's injury report, and his return moves Marcus Smart back to a bench role. Tip is set for 7:30 p.m. Monday, with Boston arriving on the second night of its own back-to-back after playing at Orlando on Sunday.

Questionable is a listing, not a verdict - the Rockets' final report on Monday will settle Sheppard's and Capela's status, and the desk will update this file's coverage in the next cycle if either is ruled out. For a 6-1 team whose starters carried the scoring load on Saturday, the bench minutes behind them are the open question of the Celtics game.