Jeremy Lin has scored 20+ points in his past 3 games

HOUSTON (AP) — Before Wednesday night’s game against the Utah Jazz, Houston coach Kevin McHale got his team together and explained the possible implications for the postseason.

Jeremy Lin scored 24 for the Rockets, who currently hold the No. 7 spot in the West. They lead the idle Los Angeles Lakers by 1½ games and are three ahead of the sliding Jazz.

“This was a huge game for us going forward and we wanted to come out and set the tone early,” Houston’s Chandler Parsons said.

Lin had a strong third quarter, scoring 10 points, including seven in a row for the Rockets early in the period. The point guard has scored at least 21 points in each of the last three games.

“I thought that Jeremy made some big hoops coming down the stretch when we needed them,” McHale said. “They were really intent on staying with James in the second half and really not giving him a lot of room, so Jeremy really broke free.”

via James Harden, Jeremy Lin boost Rockets’ playoff chances.