Houston Rockets: Pre-Season Game 5: Grading Jeremy Lin’s Performance

Oct 21, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale coaches point guard Jeremy Lin (7) against the Dallas Mavericks during the third quarter at Toyota Center. The Rockets won 100-95. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Campbell-USA TODAY Sports

The Houston Rockets received a victory against the Dallas Mavericks Monday night, and Jeremy Lin can feel good about the way he played in some aspects of his game. In the 100-95 victory,  Lin had only 6 points, but it was followed by his 8 assists. Something that was spectacular about those assists, was how he set up his teammates for easy baskets. Lin looked very good playing with James Harden and Dwight Howard, as Howard had a good game by contributing 15 points and 17 rebounds. With the pick & roll game, Lin & Howard can be very dangerous this season.

A clip of a nice assist to Howard:

http://youtu.be/ubejemoGPto

Last night, Lin looked good distributing the ball with those 8 assist, but followed those with an incredible 3 steals. Last season, Lin was an interceptor on the defensive side of the ball by gambling for those steals and averaging 1.6 spg. He looked good on the defense side of the ball  last night as well. Lin also grabbed 4 rebounds(defensive) but struggled finding a rhythm with his shooting. He went 2/9 shooting from the field and went 0/2 from the 3-point line. Poor shooting from Lin isn’t what the Rockets fans hope to see from their starting point guard this season.

A clip of Lin’s highlights from last night:

http://youtu.be/A74w_YwDhO8

Lin did end the game with 3 turnovers, looking like he did last season in which he averaged 2.9 turnovers a game. With that being said, Lin will have to shoot better consistently and cut down his turnovers for the Rockets to be successful in the 13′-14′ season. The Rockets were dead last in the NBA in turnovers last season. There were some improvements from Lin’s game with his control of the game, as he made beautiful passes and looked like more of a floor general.

Grade: B