The Houston Rockets did not get off to the start they wanted in the NBA playoffs after dropping game one and now Jeremy Lin and James Harden will need to come together to fight out of a possible 2-0 hole when the tea, takes on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Wednesday at Chesapeake Energy Arena.
Lin has been the story for the Rockets this season along with Harden, but both players struggled at times in the first game, as Lin had as many turnovers as points and assists, while Harden scored less than half he did the first time the two teams met in the regular season, which was a win for the Rockets against his old squad. The two teams are high scoring and so far in four meetings at least one team has scored 120 points, including on Sunday when the Thunder routed Houston 120-91.
Lin missed six shots and did not look comfortable as he may have had jitters in his first ever playoff game in his career after signing with the Rockets from the Knicks. Lin will try to emulate his amazing run in New York with his play in game 2 and will try to put up number like the 24.6 points and 9.2 assists he averaged while helping the Knicks turnaround last season. He was injured by the time the playoffs came and now he is getting his first taste of the postseason against Kevin Durant and snappy dresser Russell Westbrook.
The Rockets signed Lin to a three-year, $25 million deal and brought in Harden in a trade from the Thunder, giving the team a new complexion right before the season started. Harden would like some revenge against his former team, but he will need to do better on Wednesday after scoring just 20 points and getting dogged by the defense all night. Durant will have some momentum off his performance from game one and he also just appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The Rockets ranked second during the year in scoring with 106 points per game and were seventh in rebounding, but they allowed over 102 points per game and will need to do better on Wednesday. The team ranked sixth in assists behind Lin, but the Thunder has the advantage with Westbrook. OKC is ranked third in scoring and sixth in rebounding while their defense is stellar at ninth with 96 points per game allowed.