The Houston Rockets suffered a tough defeat to the surprising Philadelphia 76ers on Wednesday night in a shootout by the score of 123-117, but one silver lining was the play of point guard Jeremy Lin, who started in place of the injured James Harden and he came through, scoring 34 points and putting up a double-double with assists.
Lin lost his starting job earlier in the season to Patrick Beverley, but with him banged up, Lin has been thrust back into the starting lineup and he has made good on it, scoring 31 points in the previous game and 34 on Wednesday and even if he relinquishes his starting job back now, he should be in line as one of the players that could win the Sixth Man of the Year award coming off the bench. Lin could ask Harden what that's like after his time in Oklahoma City, but for now the Rockets and Lin will enjoy the way he has played.
The Sixers have been one of the most surprising teams in the league and is now 5-4 after people thought they might not win more than 15 games and the Rockets played well despite the loss, although they gave up way too many points down the stretch. Lin had a great game with 34 points, 12 assists and five rebounds and Dwight Howard helped with 23 points and 15 rebounds, another solid game for the center after signing with the team in the offseason and he has been the real deal, snagging over 20 rebounds twice already this season.
The Rockets had a tough stretch while missing 10 shots in a row late into the game and into overtime and that gave the Sixers the chance to get the game right and Lin was able to hit a three late for a lead. Lin his the most threes since he had five against Golden State last season according to the AP and now he will be heading into Madison Square Garden to play the Knicks on Thursday night and that should be a very anticipated game. Lin of course starred with the Knicks before signing with the Rockets and now the team comes into the matchup after defeating the Raptors in overtime and then losing to the Sixers to fall to 5-4 on the season after starting 4-1.
The team is tops in the league in rebounding with Howard and they are also ranked third in scoring with over 105 points per game and they are ranked 27th in the league in scoring defense. Lin is averaging 18.1 points and just under five assists and he has been playing very well for the Rockets and that should continue moving along this season.