Has Jeremy Lin Proved Himself Enough to Start for the Houston Rockets Again?

The Houston Rockets currently find themselves in quite the comfortable position. Having won eight of their last 10 games, the Rockets are nipping at the heels of the San Antonio Spurs for the lead in the Southwest Division, only two and a half games back from the Spurs.

In a highly-competitive Western Conference with emerging threats in Portland and Denver and perennial mainstays like Oklahoma City and San Antonio, the Rockets are holding their own, and that's not because of luck. First off, their offense has taken off to the top of the charts, the Rockets having the No. 1 scoring team in the league (109.1 points per game). Second, the team has started to show signs that they can play together, always a concern during constant changes that the roster has undergone since the 2011-12 season. Unlike their counterparts in Hollywood, the L.A. Lakers, the acquisition of Dwight Howard has been paying off huge dividends for Houston. Howard has helped the Rockets grab 46.1 rebounds per game, third best in the NBA. And his No. 9-ranked 1.84 blocks has been a big help to a team that is still having trouble containing their opponents on the defensive side (the Rockets allow 110.0 points, second worst in the NBA to Philadelphia's 110.1 points allowed).

But one key discovery has also helped the Rockets on their path from worst to almost-first: the bench. After Carlos Delfino's exit to Milwaukee, Houston was left with a deficit of talent on their bench that threatened to undermine the potency of their starting five that included Howard, All-Star James Harden and dangerous sharpshooter Chandler Parsons. However, their reserves corps has started to look a lot more potent thanks in part to Aaron Brooks becoming a revelation on offense, solid contributing from Omer Asik (however long he may remain a part of the roster) and sharp shooting from Omri Casspi.

Oh, yeah, and there's this one other guy—Jeremy Lin, one of the best sixth men in the NBA through the month of November.

Currently, Lin is out for the next two weeks thanks to a knee sprain he sustained last week in a game against Atlanta. But before that, Lin, who lost his starting job to Patrick Beverley at the start of the season, was on a tear, scoring 15.3 points, 4.5 assists and 1.3 steals; he was also shooting 50.3 percent from the field, including 39.0 percent from three-point range. A few games of those, Lin put together two 30-point games and a 21-point gem—against his old team the New York Knicks—for three games in a row. Lin seemed to find his stride without the glare of the spotlight on him—that burden now shifted to Harden and Howard—and find a way to contribute to the Rockets in an effective and productive way.

Now, with Lin on the shelf, it creates a chance for guys like Brooks to step up and take control of their own destiny, earn more minutes by showing off their skills and kick it up a notch on offense. And so far, Brooks is doing just that, scoring 10.8 points on 41.3 percent shooting in his last five games. In fact, he notched 21 points on the night Lin was injured. As the Rockets are discovering, there is more to their reserve corps than they may have originally realized. And Beverley, who showed himself to have some scoring pop of his own last season in the playoffs after Lin went down to an injury, could have his chance to contribute more to the offense to fill in the gap while the Rockets' sixth man heals.

But what happens when Lin comes back in two weeks?

The answer: put him back in the starting lineup.

Now, before we go any further, we must recognize that the current system Lin is involved in works. It's a good system. Between working on his shot in the offseason and fewer pressures to face as compared to last season, when people were expecting him to live up to the hype of "Linsanity," Lin has seemed to find himself this season, shooting with more patience, loosening up, finding his confidence, and more importantly, finding a role he thrives in.

This isn't a question of whether Lin will do better in that role, that's a debate for another time. The question is, does Lin deserve a chance to start?

After his body of work in November, it can be argued that at the very least, he deserves another audition. Yes, he struggled last year in the starting role, never really looking comfortable in that spot, struggling to learn to play off the ball, his scoring streaky, his shooting accuracy sporadic. The argument that we've seen this before can be argued quite convincingly. However, at the same time, Lin has had a whole year to get used to Kevin McHale's offense. He knows the system. He knows what role he has to play, and more importantly, he's done the work to improve his game to the point where he can be a solid starter if reinserted into the starting five.

Of course, it's a risky proposition for the Rockets as well. If Houston lets Lin start, where does the production off the bench come from?

Beverley is a solid defender and very athletic; he brings a different set of skills to the table, valuable skills that the Rockets need. But so far, he's not getting it done on offense. Is it needed? Not really, not with two scoring machines in Harden and Howard and the most dangerous offense in the NBA, but it would definitely be welcome. And perhaps the bench, where Beverley got his start, could be the spark that he needs to light a fire under him on offense. With a little tweak to bump up his scoring, added to his defensive skills, it might be the thing Beverley needs to evolve into a more well-rounded player. Brooks hasn't had that much playing time, but as of late, he's started to show flashes of something potent on offense off the bench. With a little more playing time, we'll get a better idea of what he really can do, but at the very least, he looks like he's earned some minutes to show what he's got.

All of these questions are a testament to how deep the Houston Rockets have become, particularly in the backcourt. Whatever way they decide to go, Houston will be fine in the standings. They're here to stay, and they're not going anywhere anytime soon. But to get to that next level, a shakeup in the backcourt pecking order could be the thing they need to elevate Lin, Beverley and Brooks to the next level. And if they get to the next level, the Rockets may have what they need to get to the level they've had their eyes on all this time—a shot at the NBA title come June.