Last night, the duo of Jeremy Lin and James Harden showed what they can do when they are focused. The Rockets played poorly in the first half against the injury-ravaged Timberwolves team. The Rockets rallied back from 20 points down for a 108-100 win over the Timberwolves, marking Houston’s biggest comeback in Toyota Center history. That second half “stuff” consisted of James Harden and Jeremy Lin putting the team on their respective backs and putting on a spectacular, practically flawless performance in the process. The pair combined for 27 points in the third quarter alone and 61 points and 16 assists overall. Their brilliance keyed Houston’s comeback as the Rockets outscored Minnesota by a 69-43 mark over the course of the final two quarters. Buoyed by the heroics of Harden and Lin, the rest of the Rockets got in on the act in the final frame to complete the comeback.

For the game, Jeremy Lin recorded 24 points (8-15 FG, 3-8 3FG, 5-6 FT), eight assists and four steals tonight, which gave Houston’s starting backcourt a combined 61 points and 16 assists. Lin has now scored in double figures in 23 of his last 28 games, which now includes his last eight consecutive outings (2/27/13-3/15/13). With a Jeremy Lin 3-pointer in the first quarter, the Rockets set a new team record for 3-pointers made in a season, surpassing the previous mark of 705 3-point field goals made in 2006-07. Houston finished the night 11-of-31 (.355) from beyond the arc to give the Rockets 715 3-pointers made on the season.

Houston Rockets vs Minnesota Timeberwolves Recap

Jeremy Lin post game interview

JEREMY LIN

(On the game) “I don’t know what to say about our first half. It was atrocious. Tonight, we found rhythm in the second half. Thank you to our fans and to everybody who was cheering really loud. We can’t afford to do that on the road though. We’ve got to figure that out.”

(On the play of Greg Smith) “He is really athletic. He is always in the right spot at the right time. He just has a great feel. We were trying to attack, attack, attack and they (Minnesota) were coming over to block shots and their second rotation wasn’t there all the time so that allowed Greg to get open.