Jeremy Lin Comes Up Big For Houston Rockets Against Clippers; Does Kevin McHale Need To Give Lin More Minutes?

The term "riding the hot hand" has been one that has been thrown about widely in sports, but not without warrant.

Enter Jeremy Lin.

March has unquestionably been Lin's best month, the 24-year-old guard having ridden a huge surge of scoring in the first nine games of the month. It was all in the numbers.

Through his first nine games, he was netting 16.8 points and 5.4 assists on 54-for-101 shooting, a red-hot 53.4 percent field goal percentage. How's that for momentum? And in the last three games of that stretch, Lin peaked with three consecutive 20-plus point games-and 6.0 assists in those games-numbers that were very close to "Linsanity"-level numbers.

And then, for whatever reason known, suddenly, Lin's playing time was drastically reduced.

There hasn't been any report of injury, though Lin has been dealing with his share of ankle issues on and off through the season-although he hasn't missed any significant playing time because of it. And obviously, it wasn't a matter of his production, either, as Lin hasn't played better basketball for the Rockets all season than he has in his steadily consistent and improving streak in March.

And yet, in the last four Rockets games, Lin has played on average only 22.4 minutes per game heading into Saturday's game against the L.A. Clippers and their leader, All-Star Game MVP point guard Chris Paul. Compared to the 30.4 minutes of playing time he was getting in the nine-game opening stretch for the month, and that's a big difference.

Those minutes he has lost to backup guard Patrick Beverly, 10.0 points in the 25.5 minutes he has played since the Cleveland game. Nice numbers, but not exactly "bowl-you-over" stuff. Beverly was also struggling on his shots for the month of March, hitting only 39.7 percent from the field.

With the Rockets still in a dogfight for playoff positioning with the Warriors and the Lakers, it might stand to reason that perhaps coach Kevin McHale may have made a mistake in cutting down on Lin's playing time instead of letting him get comfortable and see if this could be the start of some new and successful formula for the Rockets.

James Harden certainly hasn't been affected by Lin's improving play or increased ball possession over the month of March, the Rockets' top scorer and sole All-Star averaging 24.2 points and 6.6 assists during the month.

Yet now, Lin is also getting fewer touches. Since the March 22 game against Cleveland, Lin has shot the ball only 7.5 times. In contrast, Lin was getting 11.2 shooting attempts when March 1 began, and he benefited with an above-50 percent shooting average; he was becoming a weapon again on offense, and that was making Houston much more lethal, the Rockets winning six of those nine games.

Lin's minutes have been cut down before in the season, but at those times, he was struggling on his shooting and turnovers had been problematic. Yet Lin was not only looking more comfortable in the majority of his March games, but he was actually thriving. But it looks as if the rug was suddenly pulled out from under Lin now as he's seen his numbers drop across the board for the last week or so, starting chiefly with his minutes, and it doesn't look like that has gone unnoticed.

Lin's lack of use in the Rockets' loss to the Pacers this week, Sportige.com notes, may have been something that McHale "regrets in hindsight."

"The Rockets need more of him on the floor to take the pressure of Harden, who tends to try too much on his own when he doesn't have a partner to curb his enthusiasm," the site reported.

Lin got his share of minutes in the Rockets' Saturday game against the Clippers, playing a big game with 31 minutes in which he scored 15 points and three assists in the Rockets' 98-81 win over the Clippers. However, Harden was noticeably absent from the lineup with a foot and ankle injury. Lin will get his playing time, and a bigger share of shots than normal, until Harden comes back, but after that, then what? Will McHale cut Lin's playing time down again or will he let him ride out regular minutes and let him gel further with the team in time to tune up for the playoffs, where they will face huge tests in either the Spurs, Thunder or Grizzlies in the first round?

Harden is gifted and every bit a star, but he has had off-games, and when that happens, it doesn't bode well for Houston. Chandler Parsons has been a steady source of points, but he doesn't really have that ability to dominate a game offensively the way Lin does when he is playing consistently. The recent string of steady games Lin has been having provided the Rockets the opportunity to exploit that as they fight to get higher in the playoff standings. Not taking advantage of it may not work out that well for the Rockets.