Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin will play in Game 6 against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night, according to the Rockets official team website. Lin, who missed the last two games with a right chest contusion, will come off the bench, a change from his usual role in the starting rotation.
"I'm feeling good," Lin told the team's website following Friday's shootaround. "I get to play tonight so I'm happy about that. I worked out yesterday, went through some stuff and felt good. The trainers were up there watching and said as long as nothing crazy happens today I'm good to go.
Lin was injured during the first half of Houston's Game 2 loss and didn't play after halftime. He started Game 3, but scored just two points in 18 minutes.
Fellow guard James Harden is also expected to play Friday despite being diagnosed with strep throat.
"Jeremy feels a lot better today," Rockets coach Kevin McHale. "We'll bring him off the bench and see how much juice he's got in the tank. It's always hard to enter a series when you haven't played for a while but, hey, we're going to try to keep what we've got going. We'll definitely try to fit him in there and see how he is and see how his arm feels -- most importantly, if he gets hit or anything happens."
Houston currently trails Oklahoma City 3-2 as the series returns to Houston. The Rockets faced a 3-0 deficit before taking the last two consecutive games.
Oklahoma City is dealing with an injury to their point guard, Russell Westbrook. Westbrook suffered a knee injury during Game 2 of the series and is out for the remainder of the playoffs. The Thunder have struggled in the absence of their No. 2 scoring option, failing to close out the series against the Rockets.
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