It hasn't been the first time Houston Rockets point guard Jeremy Lin has ever been benched, but does it warrant concerns now that it's happened twice?
Lin was benched for the second time this season on Saturday in a 92-79 Rockets loss to Minesota-the seventh straight Rockets loss that has left their once-winning record at 21-21--with Houston coach Kevin McHale opting to bench Lin to start the second half in favor of Patrick Beverly, a rookie, who finished the game with two points on 1-for-5 shooting in 17 minutes.
Lin, who played 34 minutes and scored 12 points, was showing signs of renewed life on offense, but after a 10-point game in a loss to Indiana on Friday, McHale decided to bench Lin, along with starters Chandler Parsons and Patrick Patterson on Saturday to start the third quarter as he attempted to mix-and-match the Rockets lineup in search of an answer to the team's woes.
The move comes not only as the team struggles to find any form of resurgence while having lost consecutively over two weeks, but also days after Lin missed out on his opportunity to start at the point guard spot for the 2013 NBA All-Star game, coming to Houston on Feb. 17.
However, this isn't a move that is too unfamiliar this season. While McHale took a leave of absence from the team earlier this season, Lin was benched by Houston's interim coach Kelvin Sampson in the final minutes of two games in favor of Toney Douglas, who is much stronger on defense.
Lin's scoring has been something of a roller-coaster this season, up one minute and down the next, alternating between the sensational (38 points against San Antonio on Dec. 8) to the average (12 points on 4-for-9 shooting in a 103-91 loss to Bopston on Jan. 11) and the dismal (nine points on 3-for-10 shooting in 42 minutes against New Orleans on Jan. 2).
However, Lin's play wasn't necessarily the problem or the blame spot to Houston's woes. While the Rockets' team offense is second in the league with 104.5 points per game, their defense is allowing a league-worst 103.5 points to opponents. So far, their defense has not looked lively, and while this has been a problem even when the Rockets were winning 10 of 12 games to start the month, it appears their shortage of "D" has finally caught up with them.
"I think everyone's trying to do the right thing," Lin told the Houston Chronicle. "It's not working for us. Defenses are reading our stuff. We're not getting the stops and rebounds we need to get."
James Harden also pointed to the fact that the Rockets have been on the road for much of January; and in a league with 30 teams across the U.S. and Canada, the rigors of travel eventually do catch up, even for the young Rockets.
This can go one of three ways for Lin at the moment.
Scenario A: Being benched can light a fire under him and he can start playing at a more aggressive level at both ends of the floor.
Scenario B: His confidence could take a serious hit, and his inconsistencies on offense and defense continue en route to a disastrous season.
Or Scenario C: There really won't be any change to better or worse, and Lin's season can continue its streaky ride.
Right now, the season hasn't even reached the halfway mark, so there is still time for both Lin and the Rockets to right this ship. But righted it must be, and soon. In a Southwest Division this tough, all it takes is bad stretch or two to be left behind in the dust.
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