Basketball

Jeremy Lin: Lakers’ benching ‘toughest situation’ of career

Jeremy Lin admits that this season has been “one of the toughest situations I’ve ever been in ever since I’ve started playing the game of basketball”.

The quote to ESPN came in response to Lin recently losing his starting point guard job to Ronnie Price.

Lakers’ coach Byron Scott also benched Carlos Boozer in favour of Ed Davis. The changes were announced prior to their Sunday night match against the New Orleans Pelicans, which they lost 104-87, dropping their record to 5-16.

The 26 year old played just 19 minutes in the loss, recording three points and four assists.

His replacement, Price, had three points and three assists in 25 minutes of playing time.

Lin is currently averaging 11.5 points, 4.9 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game on the season. He’s shooting 45 percent from the field and 34 percent from behind the three-point line. According to ESPN, Lin was told by Scott to “work on being in the right place defensively and creating offensively.”

The Lakers’ 111.9 defensive rating is the worst in the league and according to NBA.com, that number jumps to 116.5 with Lin on the court. The Lakers are being outscored by 13-7 points per 100 possessions with Lin in the game, the 11th-worst mark in the league among players who play 20 or more minutes per game.

Scott said he plans on sticking with this new starting lineup for at least 10-15 games.

Other posts by