Lakers Rumors: Byron Scott Puts Jeremy Lin Back in His Doghouse

After logging at least 30 minutes in back-to-back games, Jeremy Lin was back in Bryon Scott's doghouse in Wednesday's 96-80 blowout loss to the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center.

The Lakers fielded their original starting lineup as Kobe Bryant (rest) and Ronnie Price (elbow) returned from two-game absences. Lin, who played more than 30 minutes in two consecutive games for the first time since losing his starting job in November, also returned to his role off the bench.

Coming off a 10-point, 10-dime performance in a loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday, the 26-year old Lin started off on a strong note as he recorded seven points, two assists and three steals in the first half.

The former Harvard standout played a key role in putting the Lakers ahead by one, 44-43 at halftime, despite another cold-shooting opening salvo from Bryant.

Unfortunately, Lin never got the chance to sustain the momentum he built in the first half as Scott decided to stick with his starting backcourt of Price and Bryant for most of the second half.

The result wasn't pretty at all as Tyreke Evans, who assumed most of the playmaking duties as replacement for injured point guard Jrue Holiday, torched the Lakers with 19 points while backcourt tandem Eric Gordon recorded 17 points and 10 assists.

Price, who is slotted by Scott into the starting lineup to give them a better defensive unit, had another anemic showing on the offensive end of the floor as he finished with two points on 0-for-2 shooting from the field in 27 minutes.

Scott Locked Up Lin in His Doghouse:

After trumpeting Lin's strengths in the offseason, Scott is clearly not amused of the point guard's up-and-down play. The Lakers head coach has been very vocal in scrutinizing Lin's skills-set and mettle, as he repeatedly called out the Asian-American star for playing soft.

While there's no doubt Lin hasn't lived up to lofty expectations when he first arrived in Los Angeles via trade with the Houston Rockets, his struggle shouldn't be blamed alone on his lack of swagger or absence of a pit-bull mentality. Instead, Scott should also take the blame for putting Lin in such an uncomfortable situation (such as placing a hard cap on his playing time) and relying too much on Price at the point even though he's very much a slacker offensively.