Jeremy Lin came through with one of his best games as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, recording 20 points on 9-for-15 shooting with 5 assists and three steals in a 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. In spite of his effort, the Lakers point guard drew criticism for committing a late-game blunder in the dying second of the match.
Struggling to find his groove offensive all season long, the 26-year old Lin was the brightest spot in the Lakers' toe-to-toe match with the Grizzlies, among the Western Conference powerhouses and legitimate title contender this season.
After scoring just four points against the Denver Nuggets, the Asian-American standout provided much-needed firepower off the bench. He was one of the reasons why the Lakers took a five-point lead at the half, after making his first five field goal attempts - including a trey that gave the Lakers the biggest lead of the night at 34-22 with 10 minutes left in the second.
As expected, the Grizzlies responded in a big way in the second half as they outscored the Lakers 33-25. However, the Lakers refused to bow down easily as Lin and Kobe Bryant teamed up to keep themselves within striking distance.
Bryant even put the Lakers behind one with a three-point shot over Quincy Pondexter with 24 seconds left in the clock. However, Lin committed the biggest blunder of the game.
Right after hitting the trey, Bryant instructed his team to foul immediately to give them another chance to go for the win or tie the ball game. But Lin seemed to be not paying attention in that particular ball possession, prompting Bryant to go all the way mid-court and foul Mike Conley with 12 seconds remaining on the clock.
Bryant, who recorded with 15 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists in 33 minutes of action, had a good look in tying the game up with a three-point attempt off an inbound pass from Lin, but his heave just went too strong. In the end, the Lakers lost their third game against the Grizzlies this season and dropped to 10-23.
When asked if Lin should be blamed for the loss, Lakers head coach Byron Scott believes his guard just followed his instruction to the letters.
"Yeah, I told him to wait until we got pass half-court," Scott told the press. "Then we want to foul by the 10-second mark. He was trying to listen to me while I am trying to talk to him, then Kobe ran off and made the foul."
"I told Kobe that was my judgment to hold off for a minute."
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