Riding high on the wave of the NBA season finally approaching, the Brooklyn Nets starting training camp and Jeremy Lin statistics, I decided to take a look at some less analytical stuff: Career highs.
The thing about career highs is they often come on special, one-of-a-kind performances. But with Lin a starting point guard without “interruptions” on the Nets, the chances of raising the bar this season in terms of his career milestones aren’t that bad. This is what he has to “beat”:
Points
Lin’s career high is 38 points. Once in his ‘Linsanity’ phase while playing for the Knicks, destroying Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers, and another time against the San Antonio Spurs, while playing for the Houston Rockets. The Rockets lost that game, but it was an example of how well Lin could play without James Harden by his side.
Lin has five career games of over 30 points, including 35 (3rd best of his career) against the Toronto Raptors last season. He has 49 games of 20 points or more in his career. He’ll probably have ample opportunities to add to the 20-point list, sometimes going past 30. Will he set a new career high? Once a player crosses into 40 territory, it’s a special night. But basically, with Lin playing 30-35 minutes a night at least and getting a lot of time with the ball, there’s no reason it shouldn’t happen at least once.
Assists
Lin’s career high in assists 14, also coming from his 2012 run with the New York Knicks, dishing out 14 dimes while dropping 28 points on the Dallas Mavericks
Lin has 23 career games with 10 assists or more. Only one of them came while playing for the Charlotte Hornets (20 points, 11 assists vs the Kings), three with the Lakers, 7 with the Knicks and 12 with the Rockets. Will he break his personal record this season? There were 87 times a player dished out 14 assists or more last season, split among 20 players. Rajon Rondo did it more than anyone else, 23 times. Jarrett Jack, on the Nets last season, had 14 assists against the Cavaliers. No reason Lin doesn’t do it, although an assist can be a misleading stat, not to mention it has a lot to do with players making their shots, not just the quality of the passer.
3-Pointers
With Lin’s 3-point game a focal point whether it’s improving or stagnating, it’s worth noting that he’s had six games in his career with four three-pointers or more, including a career nine 3’s while playing for the Rockets in a loss to the Philadelphia 76ers, scoring 38 points in that game.
Lin actually had two games like this last season for the Hornets, including his 29-point performance in the win over the San Antonio Spurs. His other four games were on the Rockets. I doubt he breaks nine 3-pointers in a game, although it can happen sometimes. Lin’s role might give him more opportunities to set himself up for 3’s, and he did take 4 three-pointers per game per 36 minutes last season. Maybe we’ll see an uptick on attempts, which will lead to huge long-range shooting nights as well.
Other career highs:
- Lin’s career high in rebounds is 11. He has two games of 10 or more rebounds
- Lin has 23 games with 4 steals or more. His career high is 6, twice achieved while playing for Houston
- An improved shot blocker, Lin has five career games with 3 blocks, including one last season
- Lin has 17 games in his career with 10 or more free throw attempts. His career high is 14, making 10 of them. He has four career games with at least 10 FTA while sinking all of them, including 12-for-12 for the Rockets, and two 10-for-10 games with the Hornets last season
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