Jeremy Lin had his best game of the season on Sunday night and it did not go unnoticed as Los Angeles Lakers head coach announced 'Linsanity' will be inserted into the starting lineup.
According to the Los Angeles Times, Lin will start alongside rookie Jordan Clarkson in their upcoming game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday at the Chesapeake Energy Arena. Ryan Kelly also earned a spot in the revamped starting lineup.
Lin will replace Wayne Ellington in the starting lineup, while Kelly took to the spot of Jordan Hill. Lin, Kelly and Clarkson will start alongside Tarik Black and Wesley Johnson.
"I'm going to change the lineup," Scott said on Monday. "As a matter of fact, I'm going to start Jeremy and J.C. together. They don't even know it yet. Ryan will be at the four."
Lin, who started in their first 19 games of the season before booted out by Ronnie Price after failing to meet expectation, is coming off his best game in a Lakers uniform.
The 26-year-old point guard scored a season-high 29 points on 10-for-16 shooting from the field and also added five rebounds and five assists to lead the Lakers to a 101-87 win over the Philadelphia 76ers.
Scott said that Lin's performance on Sunday was not the main reason why he opted to start the former Harvard University standout out again. He said he was already thinking of starting Lin again, but Sunday's production made it easier for him to decide.
"That was something I had planned on doing," said Scott, who hinted earlier this month that Lin might regain his spot in the starting lineup in the final 10 games of the season. "It had nothing to do with last night, but last night made it a little bit easier to throw him in there, because he played so well."
Scott said, though, that he will make sure that he will have either Lin or Clarkson on the floor for the entire game despite the fact that the two point guards will start alongside each other.
But for Lin, he does not see any problem playing together with Clarkson, who is averaging 13.5 points to go along with 4.2 assists and 3.9 rebounds as a starter.
"I think we'll be able to help each other," Lin said. "I don't necessarily always see it as you're the point guard, I'm the shooting guard. It's a tandem."
