Jeremy Lin schools Patrick Beverley, but Dwight Howard elbows Kobe Bryant aside in deceiving Rockets laugher
It's a good start for a Rockets team that should be 4-0 heading into Tuesday's game at Miami. But this idea that it's somehow a disaster for Jeremy Lin is a joke that's a figment of Lin Only Haters imagination. Yes, Lin puts up only seven points, but your first game with a new franchise (especially when it's the first game back for one of that franchise's all-time legends) is not the time to force up shots.
Lin only takes five shots on this night, but his penetration does plenty for the Lakers — and there are a number of encouraging signs. He plays 29 minutes, tied for the team lead with Kobe Bryant. He picks up six assists while creating easy baskets for bigs like Carlos Boozer and Ed Davis. Those six assists could easily be nine assists if not for a few teammate fumbles (Jordan Hill, one of the worst starters in the NBA, has a particularly rough night).
It is Lin's penetration that forces Howard to the bench just 73 seconds into the third quarter too. The Rockets defensive backbone (really their only real defensive bone period) picks up his fourth foul on a Lin drive and his absence opens up everything, exposing Beverley's defense on Lin.
"I thought he did a pretty good job to be honest with you," Scott says of Lin. "Especially in the second half . . . I thought he was much more aggressive and that's what we need Jeremy to be."
Imagine that. A coach encourages Jeremy Lin to attack and then gives him a real chance to do it. The difference between the way Byron Scott and Kevin McHale talk about and treat Lin is already dramatic — and glaringly obvious.
Lin plays the entire third quarter on this night. For the first time since his run in New York with Mike D'Antoni, Lin doesn't need to look over his shoulder and anticipate the move of a coach itching to yank him. With Lin playing well and driving the Lakers, Byron Scott actually lets him play on.
A little support goes a long way in building trust. No wonder why Jeremy Lin stands in front of his locker and tries to shoulder the burden of this 18-point loss.Down the floor, McHale must be scratching his head at such a "novel" move.
"I don't think I did a great job of doing the things I wanted to do," Lin says simply. "Thought defensively, I was fine. Just got to make more plays though."
On this opening night, it's easy to look at the box scores and assume Morey and the Rockets are coming out ahead after that disastrous offseason. After all, Chandler Parsons comes out clanking for the Dallas Mavericks, missing a potential game-winning 3-pointer, putting up an ugly 2-for-10 shooting clip overall, in a loss at San Antonio. Lin only takes those five shots. Only Omer Asik (14 points, 17 rebounds) looks like his powerful self and Anthony Davis' blinding superstar talent guarantees no one will much notice his partner's line anyway.
Don't read too much into opening night though. The Rockets should be a step ahead at this point.
The Lin Only Haters will never acknowledge it, but there are cracks already showing through. Lin leaving Beverley in the dust is an ominous sign in a West full of quick elite point guards. October masterpieces are nice, but they have an ugly way of meaning little in April. Regrets almost never come early.
Lin’s aggressive style didn’t work well in the first half of Lakers’ season-opening, 108-90 loss to the Rockets, but was successful in breaking down the Rockets defense off the dribble in the third quarter. He didn’t have his best night, finishing with seven points, six assists and four turnovers against his former team, but neither did his Rockets replacement.
Beverley had nine points and five assists.
Still, McHale had nothing but praise for Lin, who started at point guard for the Lakers.
“He’s a wonderful kid to coach, a wonderful person to be around,” McHale said. “I have nothing but good things to say about him. We’ll miss him because of the way he plays because we go up and down the floor and attack.
Lakers' Jeremy Lin doesn't have anything against Rockets
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