Beverley returns to Rockets starting lineup; Lin off bench
Pat Beverley will return to the starting lineup against the Lakers tonight, with the Rockets going back to the rotation they used to start the season before he missed three games with a torn abdominal muscle.
Beverley came off the bench in his first game back, playing 29 minutes in Portland on Tuesday. He had 12 points and four rebounds, making 5 of 9 shots. The switch put Jeremy Lin back to coming off the bench as the primary backup for Beverley and shooting guard James Harden.
“I like where we’re at right now,” Rockets coach Kevin McHale said of his rotation. We’re usually keeping a big guy on the floor, which is big for us, either Omer (Asik) or Dwight (Howard.) Omri (Casspi) has play fantastic at four, had a tremendous game in Portland. We played Chandler (Parsons) at the four. We’ll see how with Patrick starting and Jeremy coming off the bench, hopefully we get some punch there.”
Lin has averaged 15.2 points and 4.4 rebounds, making 53.3 percent of his shots.
“Jeremy’s been playing really well,” McHale said. “I said this earlier. I thought at the end of the summer, we worked out together and he looked better than at any point last season just physically. I think he’s comfortable with who he is. I think he has played better this year. He’s thrust to the basket, he’s breaking people down, he’s doing exactly what we want him to do. His defense is better, his confidence. I’m really excited about Jeremy, how he can help our team.”
