Jeremy Lin's Slow Minnesota Game Stop His Roll? Rockets PG Experiences 'Hiccup' in Recent 'Linsanity' Rally

There's been little doubt that Jeremy Lin has been on fire in the last week or so.

Coming into Wednesday's game against the Timberwolves and his counterpart, the slick-passing, freshly-returned-from-ACL-rehab Ricky Rubio, Lin was averaging 18.7 points with 9.0 assists.

That's the hottest he's been since he donned a blue-and-orange jersey for the New York Knicks last season during an amazing stretch of games from February onward that turned Lin from unwanted castoff into overnight sensation.

Against a Rubio who was struggling to get back into shape and armed with one of the NBA's hottest scorers, Harden, and the league's most productive offense (ranked No.1 in scoring with 105.3 points per game) the elements were there for Lin to continue his torrid pace.

Except that wasn't the case, as Lin hit only 33.3 percent from the floor, an all-but-invisible eight points and one assist for Wednesday night, though the Rockets still managed to eek out an 87-84 win behind James Harden's 30 points, several of them coming in clutch moments for Houston.

To be fair, Lin wasn't the only one having a struggling night from the field, as the Rockets--of which Harden said after the game were "kind of sluggish throughout the game"--shot a deflating 40 percent from the field, something that even their high-octane, run-and-gun offense had a mountain of trouble trying to overcome.

And keep in mind, the Timberwolves are no slouches on defense, with Minnesota tied for fifth in the league in defense (only 94.1 points allowed by opponents each game.)

Still, to Rockets or Lin fans who monitor his games closely, the game could serve as a warning sign. After all, prior to the 38 points he exploded for against San Antonio on Dec. 10, Lin wasn't having a very good start to his 2012-13 season, shooting just over 30 percent with his scoring numbers down and his shooting attempts dropping.

And just after his eyebrow-raising performance against San Antonio, his numbers dropped again when Harden rejoined the team, scoring only 7.3 points over three games after that.

But that was before his 22-point, eight-assist homecoming party he had against his old team the Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 17 that led to his newfound offensive vigor throughout much of the last two weeks.

Although, the last time a defensive-minded team cooled Lin down, he never quite got back the spark he carried beforehand.

That instance, of course, refers to last season in New York, when Lin was taking the world by storm during the "Linsanity" run. Lin was on fire before he ran into LeBron James and the Miami Heat, who decided to play Lin tough all night. The result: Lin scored only eight points with three assists that night in a lopsided 102-88 loss to the Heat.

Between that and the returning Carmelo Anthony becoming the focus of the Knicks offense again, Lin was never quite the same player after that, averaging only 14.9 points compared to the 24.6 points he was notching in his first 10 games starting for the Knicks before his season ended with a torn meniscus in his left knee in March.

The point? It doesn't take much to cool down a red-hot offensive start.

Granted, the circumstances here seem to be different. Lin and Harden, prior to Wednesday, were looking like they finally figured out how to score together while leading the team on a roll of wins over some very tough teams in the NBA, the Knicks and Grizzlies included. And unlike New York, Lin has been assured by coach Kevin McHale that he will be worked into the offense with more touches.

They want him to score more, and if the results are any indication, they need him to score more.

But nothing hurts a scorer worse than confidence issues. If Lin lets Wednesday's game get into his head, he might revert to being the okay, but not great player that he was before he found his mojo in New York last week.

Shooters have to shoot. Scorers have to keep trying to score; Lin is such a player. And heading into another big time game Friday night against division rival San Antonio--where Lin had his finest game earlier this month--and against a fine counterpart point guard in Tony Parker, the Rockets are going to need Lin to shoot not less, but more.

It's almost a certainty that San Antonio is going to try everything in their power to stop Harden. With the defense so busy focusing on him, this could leave the door wide open for Lin to get back on track with another impressive showing.

It's still too early to tell if Wednesday was the cooling of Lin's fiery offensive pace, or merely a hiccup that will be erased with more stellar play from the Rockets' point guard. Friday's game against the Spurs, however, could be a sign of things to come.