Jeremy Lin Evolves His Play With Hot April Stats, But Will It Be Enough For Houston Rockets To Go Far In 2013 NBA Playoffs? [Video]

For some, it's hard to believe, considering how his stint in Houston started, but in the last month of his 2012-13 NBA season, Jeremy Lin has finally seemed to get it right.

In the first few weeks of his new season as a Houston Rocket since jumping from New York over the summer, Lin struggled to get it right. The shots weren't falling. He looked discombobulated and uncomfortable as he struggled to find his role on a new team that had just acquired what would be a franchise piece in James Harden. And as he did in New York after Carmelo Anthony returned just as the "Linsanity" craze was at its zenith, Lin looked lost in the shuffle in an offensive system that didn't have him as the primary ball handler and it all translated into a dreadful 37.5 percent shooting month for 10.2 points a game in November.

Then he had a strong half-month in the second half of December, where he has some big scoring games against playoff opponents such as San Antonio, New York, Chicago, Memphis and Atlanta where he was starting to look like the Jeremy Lin fans saw in New York.

From there, he had an up-and-down several months as Lin began to adapt his game to taking fewer shots and learning how to keep Houston's fast and furious offense running. It came out looking like an see-saw pattern in the stat columns, Lin having one, two or three games in double-digit scoring, then scoring only 4 or 5 points the next game as he barely took any shots.

Yet, somehow between an eventful March--which saw him get off to a hot start with 16.8 points, 5.4 assists and more than 30 minutes a night, then seeing those numbers drop due to minutes cut, then rise again after Harden and Chandler Parsons went down for a few games due to injury--and what has amounted to an incredible April month, where he has averaged 18.0 points and 6.8 assists on a steady 45.9 percent field goal shooting, 37.8 percent from three-point range, Lin seems to have evolved his play into the kind of point guard the Houston Rockets need, as his 20 point-game Monday against Phoenix showed.

With the ball and more shots, he is starting to show better shot selection and has become more efficient on offense. Off the ball, he has learned how to keep Houston in their sets while using his youth and hustle to keep things rolling as Harden, Parsons and others on the team keep the Rockets scoring frequently and quickly, making them lightning fast and hard to catch.

And when Harden and Parsons went down during a crucial stretch in the Rockets' season, Lin stepped up on offense to fill in the gaps, reminding everyone that while Harden and Parsons may be the one-two punch on offense for Houston, the 24-year-old Palo Alto, Calif., native is a force on offense that is too deadly to be ignored. He can drive to the lane with explosiveness and effect when the situation calls for it and his shooting and confidence improving to the point where he can be reliable when opponents try and close the lane to him.

Simply put, Lin is hotter than he has been all season. That's good news for the Rockets; because they'll need all hands on deck when the playoffs begin on Saturday.

Currently locked in the No.7 seed but battling the Denver Nuggets (46-35) for the No.6 seed, Houston (45-36) will play either the San Antonio Spurs, Nuggets or L.A. Clippers in the first round of the playoffs-all of whom have deadly point guards in Ty Lawson (Nuggets) and All-Stars Chris Paul (Clippers) and Tony Parker (Spurs) and possess high-powered offenses in the league's Top Ten among team points scored.

The Rockets' inexperience may have many playoff experts pegging them as easy first-round exits, but their youth, stamina, athleticism and league-leading scoring (106.1 points per game) make them poised for a potential bracket-busting playoff run.

And for that reason, Lin's performance will be critical in the playoffs. Harden and Parsons are going to get their shots and be the focus of the opposing team's defense throughout the series. But because of Lin's development over the course of the season, and more importantly, his flourishing finish in April, Lin has the potential to become the "X-factor" in the series. A hot Lin creates a myriad of problems for opposing defenses, who would have to pick their poison between the explosive Harden--who can take over a game at will--the reliable Parsons and a dynamic Jeremy Lin that can beat an opponent on the inside and with timely shooting.

But that all depends on whether Lin, who has never played in a playoff series before, can keep his momentum going once the playoffs begin this weekend. He'll have to keep executing in his spots and show in the first game that he can be counted on as he has been in the last two months.

Houston needs to have their three-headed monster of Harden, Parsons and Lin at their very best to keep up with either the fast and athletic Nuggets, the "Lob City" explosiveness of Paul and Blake Griffin, or the synchronized poetry-in-motion ball movement of Parker and Tim Duncan's Spurs offense. Without all three at their best, Houston won't last long in the playoffs. Which is why Lin must keep hot through the playoffs this spring--or else the Rockets end up could have an early summer.