Jeremy Lin News: Will Lin's Second Half Slump Affect His Chances of Winning NBA Sixth Man Award? [Video]
The second half of the 2013-14 NBA season has been anything but kind to Jeremy Lin.
The proof is in the pudding—or rather, in the stats. Over his previous 10 games, the Houston Rockets' fan-favorite point guard has started to take a turn for the worse. The numbers across the board from late February to early March say it all: 6.8 points, only 31.9 percent shooting from the field, and an unimpressive 30.8 percent from the three-point line, with 2.7 turnovers over his last 10 games since February 10.
Not exactly the stuff that NBA Sixth Man of the Year dreams are made of.
True, Lin showed signs of life Sunday with his impressive 26-point performance in the Rockets' 118-113 win against Portland, but one good game does not signal a turnaround.
Lin started off the first half of the season as one of the better sixth men in the NBA, averaging 13.3 points off an impressive 46.6 percent shooting from the field before the All-Star break, hitting 34.3 percent of his shots from downtown with 4.5 assists in 31.1 minutes. Now, eight games removed from the All-Star break, shooting struggles, a back injury, and plummeting playing time have been taking their toll on Lin's game.
The numbers speak for themselves; over the last eight games since the All-Star break, Lin has averaged only 6.3 points off a dreadful 29.1 percent shooting from the field, including 27.8 percent from beyond the arc. Turnovers remain high, with Lin coughing up the ball 2.6 times over that stretch, while his assists have dropped to 2.9 , and his shot attempts have fallen from 9.5 shots prior at the break to 6.9 shots.
When you measure those numbers against some of the more prominent candidates for the NBA's top sub award, the math just doesn't add up in Lin's favor. Reggie Jackson has been a capable replacement for Russell Westbrook and has averaged 13.3 points off 43.5 shooting for the Oklahoma City Thunder this season. Taj Gibson has flourished with the Chicago Bulls this season, averaging 16.3 points and 7.1 rebounds over the last 10 games for the Bulls. The surprising Phoenix Suns' Markieff Morris has been on fire for the month of March, averaging 18.0 points off the bench for the Suns, who are making a surprise bid to return to the NBA Playoffs. Manu Ginobili, at 36, continues to prove that he's just as dangerous as ever, averaging 12.0 points off 45.5 percent shooting off the bench for last season's NBA Finalists, the San Antonio Spurs.
That's some pretty stiff competition.
Even more bad news: Lin may have missed the mark on his productivity window. February has been Lin's highest scoring month throughout his career, with Lin averaging 14.0 points and 6.2 assists during that month. March and April have been historically less fruitful for Lin. The Master of Linsanity usually only racks up 12.6 points for March and 12.9 points for April.
Despite improving his shooting form during the offseason, Lin has faced his share of obstacles this season after losing his starting point guard's role to Patrick Beverley, dealing with ill-timed injuries—the most recent one being his back, according to the Houston Chronicle—and an ever-changing expansion and shrinking of his role depending on the injuries that force the Rockets to make roster adjustments of key players, such as Beverley and All-star James Harden. Now, with his own body acting up, it appears that Lin might lose valuable time for making his case to be among the front-runners for the NBA's Sixth Man award.
And with only a little less than two months of NBA action left before the playoffs, and the Rockets, currently the No. 4 seed in the West, attempting to unseat the Spurs in the Southwest Division, an injury to one of Houston's most frequently used and vital role players is not something they can afford at the moment.
Lin had a productive final two months of the season last year, when he averaged 13.8 points in March and a red-hot 17.3 points in April, though that was largely due to injuries to Harden and Chandler Parsons that led to more playing time and shots for Lin. However, barring some unforeseen catastrophe happening to any of their stars down the stretch, it looks like the Palo Alto, Calif., point guard will have to rely on his mechanics and simply shoot his way out of his current funk while nursing his own injuries. Lin will have to do something to shake off his slump, or not only are his chances of being a serious Sixth Man of the Year contender in jeopardy, but the Rockets' bench, an integral part of any NBA title run, may also be in serious trouble.
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