Lin and Harden are now producing dividends; Orlando is bouncing back after getting rid of Howard; more in LeBron's greatness, Wizards can't buy a break; top teams, MVP and rookies; my favorites of '12

One month into the 2012-13 NBA season, the James Harden-Jeremy Lin backcourt for the Houston Rockets sputtered.

It reached a point where some analysts suggested the Rockets might be better off bringing Lin off the bench. At $8.3 million perseason, that was one expensive backup point guard.

There were traditional and advanced statistics to prove Harden and Lin weren't clicking. In the first month of the season:

 

  • The Rockets scored 102.8 points per 100 possessions, allowed 102.7 points per 100 possessions, shot 43.6% from the field, including 35.2% on three-pointers, and averaged 97.75 possessions per every 48 minutes.
  • With Lin on the bench, the Rockets averaged 103.9 points per 100 possessions, allowed 100.8 points per 100 possessions and shot 42.5% from the field. With Lin on the court, Houston averaged 102.4 points per 100 possessions, allowed 103.5 points per 100 possessions and shot 44% from the field.
  • With Lin and Harden on the court at the same time, the Rockets averaged 102.5 points per 100 possessions, allowed 104.2 points per 100 possessions and Harden was a minus-3. With Lin on the bench and Harden on the court, the Rockets averaged 104.9 points per 100 possessions, allowed 96.3 points per 100 possessions and Harden was a plus-20.

 

Now, 15 games is a small sample size for sure, but the early returns suggested Lin and Harden weren't the dynamic combo the Rockets expected.

But beyond a small sample, a series of other factors were neglected. Harden was acquired just before the start of the regular season and didn't have a training camp to work with Lin and his new teammates. Lin was in his first season as the known starter headed into Game 1 and was learning a new offense with new teammates on a very young team. Houston's opening-night starting five included Harden (fourth season), Lin (third season), Omer Asik (third season), Marcus Morris (second season) and Chandler Parsons (second season).

Rockets coach Kevin McHale understood it required time and patience, with patience being the most trying part.

"Until the team really understands how you play – every team has a style and a lot of teams are trying to find that style – but once you find out what works, you have to be dedicated to doing it," McHale said. "I liken back to Houston and the old Hakeem Olajuwon days. The team didn't one day all of sudden say, 'We're never going to throw the ball to Hakeem tonight. We're going to ice him out. We're going to come down shot jumpers.' They threw the ball to him every single time because that was their style.

"Our style has to be ball movement, moving the ball side to side. You're going to have turnovers the way we play. We just can't be throwing the ball to the other team. ... But we have to play our style."

When the Rockets didn't play well, he pinpointed the reasons.

"The ball was too sticky on offense, too many mistakes defensively. … There's a lot of teams in the league that are young, asking the same question," McHale said. "A lot of guys are searching for themselves, trying to figure out who they are. When you pass all of that, it just makes it easier to play basketball. There are times when guys are searching for their offense. The ball gets sticky. Guys are looking to say, 'Hey, I have to get off.' "

However, in December – the second month of the season – signs appeared that Lin and Harden can make it work as they found a better balance between who had the ball and their attacking natures. Lin likes to attack with finesse and the idea that he can pass to open shooters on the perimeter. Harden likes to attack with force and draw fouls.

Take a look at some of the numbers in December:

 

  • The Rockets averaged 106 points per 100 possessions, allowed 104.5 points per 100 possessions, shot 46.8% from the field and had 101.19 possessions per 48 minutes. The pace picked up, the scoring increased, the shooting percentage increased and the defense allowed a few more points but the net margin between points scored and points allowed was much better in December.
  • With Lin on the court, the Rockets averaged 106.2 points per 100 possessions, allowed 102.3 points per 100 possessions and shot 48.1% from the field. With Lin on the bench, Houston scored 105.7 points per 100 possessions, allowed 108.4 points per 100 possessions and shot 44.7% from the field.
  • With Lin and Harden on the court together, the Rockets averaged 106.8 points per 100 possessions, allowed 101.1 points per 100 possessions and Harden was a plus-54. With Lin on the bench and Harden on the court, Houston averaged 108.4 points per 100 possessions and allowed 110.2 points per 100 possessions and Harden was a minus-1.

 

Again, that's a small sample size – 16 games in December for a 10-6 record with victories against the Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies, Chicago Bulls and Minnesota Timberwolves and Atlanta Hawks. But it's a sample size that proves it can and does work.

"For us to be successful, we've got to move the ball and we've got to move our bodies. … Regardless of who we play, we've just got to attack and move the ball," McHale said. "We have a style that we have to play which is up and down and ball movement.

"We're all getting to know each other a little bit. We have a really young team, and we haven't been together that long. … As a team, we have to find our footing."

In a recent victory, Harden had 28 points and five rebounds and Lin had 16 points, eight assists, four rebounds and four steals. In another recent victory, Harden had 26 points, six assists and five rebounds and Lin had 20 points and 11 assists. In Lin's return to New York to play the Knicks, he had 22 points and eight assists, and Harden had 28 points and 10 rebounds.

"It's a good example of what we can do," Lin said.

Magic rebounding quicker than expected

Forget about the Orlando Magic's six-game losing streak. Forget about the shorthanded, injury-riddled Magic's three consecutive turnovers at the end of their overtime loss to the Miami Heat.

Despite a 12-19 record, the Magic are headed in the right direction under new general manager Rob Hennigan and first-year coach Jacque Vaughn – with everyone within the organization understanding Orlando will have its share of lows while rebuilding in the post-Dwight Howard era.

Signs exist that Orlando has the right people in place, both in the front office and on the bench, to rebound quicker than expected after trading Howard to the Los Angeles Lakers for young players, draft picks and salary-cap flexibility.

Two weeks ago, the Magic were 12-13, in ninth place in the Eastern Conference (a game behind the Brooklyn Nets for the eighth spot) and boasting impressive wins against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers and Denver Nuggets.

But forward Glen Davis sustained a sprained left shoulder in Orlando's 90-83 victory against the Washington Wizards, and he hasn't played since. And, the Magic haven't won since.

"It's been a new territory for us as far as having different personnel on the floor finishing games, and hopefully we're more comfortable with that and what we want to accomplish at the end of games," Vaughn said. "Hopefully, it puts us in a more familiar and more comfortable place. We've got some work to do but a lot of good things have come out these games even though we lost. It's up to us to use it and build on it."

Some of Orlando's moderate success begins with Hennigan, who has made wise front-office decisions based on what's best for the franchise long-term rather than what popular opinion suggested. During the summer with many letting Hennigan know that a straight-up trade – Howard for Andrew Bynum – was the best was to get something in return for Howard, Hennigan remained patient.

The Magic didn't want Bynum for a variety of seasons – mainly his persistent knee injuries (Bynum hasn't played for the Philadelphia 76ers yet this season) and the fact that Orlando wasn't sure it could keep Bynum when his contract expires after this season.

So, Hennigan still traded Howard, and acquired guard-forward Arron Afflalo, center Nikola Vucevic, Maurice Harkless, draft picks and salary-cap flexibility moving forward. Vucevic just had a 29-rebound game, better than anyone in team history, which includes Howard and Shaquille O'Neal.

The melding of veterans (Afflalo, Davis, Jameer Nelson, J.J. Redick and Hedo Turkoglu) and young players has given Orlando much more optimism.

"They have some really good players and some pretty good pieces," Heat forward LeBron James told reporters.

Hennigan was on Oklahoma City Thunder GM Sam Presti's staff and graduated from the same school as Presti, Emerson College in Boston. While Hennigan is not a clone of Presti, just as Presti is not as clone of R.C. Buford in San Antonio, the San Antonio Spurs Way continues to permeate the NBA. The MO is not easily duplicated, but executives such as Presti and Hennigan have inside knowledge of what makes a franchise successful long term.

Give Hennigan credit for hiring Vaughn, too, who has proven to be an effective offensive and defensive coach in short time after two years as an assistant with the Spurs. One of a young coach's biggest challenges is getting players to buy in, and Magic players have bought in to Vaughn's style and system and play hard for him.

"Overall, we've gotten better," Vaughn said. "That was the goal and the mission setting out the first game of the year. Defensively, we've been pretty sound throughout the course of the year. Offensively, we've gotten better and we'll continue to get better."

Now, the Magic have plenty of work on offense and defense, and they are still several players away from returning to one of the Eastern Conference's best teams.

"Expectations-wise, we never put a number on how many wins or losses we were going to have," Vaughn said. "Really, it was an overall message of us getting better and creating an atmosphere where that's our approach every day. That will lead to success, and for me, that's been the consistent message and I won't stray away from that.

"I won't talk about wins and losses too often and what our record is. I'm quite sure I haven't mentioned it or anything of that nature to our guys. That's not my nature. But I want us to play better than we did last game. That's really how simple I try to keep it.

"I would say I am pleased with our progress."

James on an impressive scoring streak

Miami Heat forward LeBron James may or may not win the MVP this season. Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant is right there, and James knows that.

But what James is doing game in, game out continues to astound. Regardless of who wins MVP for one season, James is still the best player in the world.

After his 36-point performance in Miami's 112-110 overtime win vs. the Orlando Magic on New Year's Eve, James has started the season with at least 20 points in 29 consecutive games.

The record for most games of at least 20 points to start a season is 45 games, set by George Gervin in 1981-82, followed by James, who just passed Kevin McHale (28 consecutive games in 1986-87) and Karl Malone (24 consecutive games in 1989-90).

Vesely struggling for struggling Wizards

The Washington Wizards wanted a big man in the 2011 draft, so they selected 6-11 forward Jan Vesely from the Czech Republic.

Here are other forwards/centers in the first and second rounds the Wizards could have selected: Bismack Biyombo, Marcus Morris, Kawhi Leonard, Nic Vucevic, Tobias Harris, Kenneth Faried and Chandler Parsons – all of whom have had more success to one degree or another than Vesely, the No. 6 pick in the draft.

Vesely is turning out to be a lost draft pick for the Wizards who are struggling with a league-worst 4-25 record. Vesely is active defensively and on the glass and runs the floor well, but a team needs more than that from a No. 6 pick.

A third of the way into his second season, Vesely has shown little sign of improvement, falling in and out of Wizards coach Randy Wittman's rotation because of inconsistency. Wittman has gone games without using Vesely, who is averaging 2.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and shooting 41.5% from the field and shooting 23.8% on free throws in 13.1 minutes per game in 22 appearances.

He has not scored in double figures this season, and has played in eight games where he did not score a point. His shot needs considerable work.

In Washington's 103-94 loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday, Mavericks forward Dirk Nowitzki, still trying to get in game shape and rediscover his offense after October knee surgery, torched Vesely. It's not easy to guard Nowitzki, not even for the best defenders in the league. But with Vesely guarding Nowitzki, the future Hall of Famer made 4-of-5 shots and abused Vesely with his patented jumper. Even with Nowitzki at 75%, Vesely didn't have a chance.

Wittman told reporters pregame that they needed to ask Vesely if he was playing with confidence. "Confidence always plays a part of it. I can't speak for him. That's something you have to ask him – if he's playing with confidence," Wittman said. "There are times he doesn't, and it does hurt his aggression when he's on the floor. That's why there's fluctuation and inconsistency mixed in with that. He's got to be a factor on the floor."

Storytime with Stotts

Portland Trail Blazers coach Terry Stotts explained that he needs forward Nicolas Batum to remain active when plays aren't called for him. "With the great ones, the ball finds you when you stay engaged and stay aggressive."

The ball finds you? What is this, some of kind of new-age basketball philosophy? OK, we get Stotts' point, but it seems like a bit of a nebulous theory. Until Stotts told this story:

"Someone told me, this goes way back to Bernard King … one of Bernard's teammates was complaining that (then-New York Knicks coach) Hubie Brown ran all the plays for Bernard King," Stotts said. "Bernard told Hubie, 'Hey, don't call a play for me' and he still scored 40.

"There has to be a trust involved, a trust with me and with his teammates. I just know that it's happened before. … There's a certain way that your teammates look for you, the ball gets moved around and your opportunities come if you're ready for them and you stayed engaged. It's part of experience as well. Nic has an opportunity this year that he hasn't had in past years because of the team dynamics and he's in a position every night to take advantage of that."

Power rankings

Here are my top five in USA TODAY Sports' NBA team, MVP and rookie power rankings:

Team

Los Angeles Clippers

Oklahoma City Thunder

San Antonio Spurs

Miami Heat

Memphis Grizzlies

MVP

LeBron James

Kevin Durant

Chris Paul

Tim Duncan

Carmelo Anthony

Rookie

Damian Lillard

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist

Anthony Davis

Memorable performances

Top five performances I watched in person in 2012:

1. Heat forward LeBron James' 45 points, 15 rebounds and five assists in Miami's 98-79 vs. the Boston Celtics in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals. Given the incredible year James had – NBA MVP, NBA champion, Finals MVP and Olympic gold medalist – he could have two, three other games in this top five.

2. Celtics guard Rajon Rondo's 44 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds in Boston's 115-111 overtime loss to the Heat in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

3. Carmelo Anthony's 37 points in 14 minutes – including 10-of-12 on three-pointers! – in Team USA's 156-73 victory against Nigeria in the London Olympics. It was a single-game U.S. Olympic scoring record, and he scored 18 points in three minutes, 38 seconds in an impressive stretch in the second half.

4. Kevin Durant's 28 points in 22 minutes, including 8-of-10 on three-pointers, in Team USA's 126-97 victory against Argentina in the London Olympics.

5. Heat forward Mike Miller's 23 points, including 7-of-8 on three-pointers, in Miami's title-clinching 121-106 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game 6 of the Finals.

Read the NBA A-Z insider column from USA TODAY Sports' Amick and Jeff Zillgitt at nba.usatoday.com. Send the guys feedback and ideas to @sam_amick and @JeffZillgitt.