After a string of bad losses, the Atlanta Hawks won a game, beating the Miami Heat 123-118, improving to 3-6 this season and 2-2 at home. After a couple of relatively big games, Jeremy Lin had a quieter performance, doing most of the damage by finding open players and getting to the line.

Lin finished with 6 points and 4 assists in 16 minutes. He wasn’t in the same mode as in the previous game of trying to get to the basket at every opportunity, taking just 3 shots, all from inside the paint, making just one of them. He was 4-for-4 from the line, once again displaying his ability to beat big or small defenders when he’s given space to take that first step. Too bad he didn’t do it often enough.

Lin’s most dominant stretch came in his second-quarter outing, with 3 assists, 2 of them to Dewayne Dedmon (no-look pass included), who seems to be forming a pretty productive partnership with Lin, whether for points in the paint or finding him for open 3’s. 

No-👀 Jeremy Lin to Dedmon! #TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/YdtlwovKwm

— NBA (@NBA) November 4, 2018

It was disappointing that Lin didn’t get to play in the final minutes, Trae Young replacing him with 4:38 to go. The Hawks were up by 3 points at that point and twice let that lead go, but Vince Carter and Kent Bazemore completed the job. Young finished with 24 points and 15 assists, but also 5 turnovers and 2-for-8 from beyond the arc. Dedmon and Traun Prince each scored 15.

There’s a bit of rest now until the next game against the Charlotte Hornets, an ex-team of Lin’s, who is leading the rather poor Southeast Division. Hopefully, it means back to the 20-25 minutes for Lin. However, it is the first night of a back-to-back, the second one being a home game against the New York Knicks, so maybe Lloyd Pierce will once again refrain from using Lin heavily in one of the games.

After 9 games, Lin’s averages are 7.8 points and 2.3 assists in 15.8 minutes per game. He’s shooting 40.7% from the field and 84% from the line.