The two have remained respectful of each other through both the good and the bad.

But rarely have Lakers coach Byron Scott and Lakers guard Jeremy Lin ever agreed on much regarding both his early-season struggles and his recent success following the NBA All-Star break.

Lin enters Sunday’s game against the Dallas Mavericks (40-24) at Staples Center averaging 15.5 points on 47.4 percent shooting, 5.63 assists and .88 turnovers in 25.12 minutes per game through eight contests following the All-Star break. That marks a sharp increase from when Lin averaged 10.2 points on 42.6 percent shooting, 4.6 assists and 2.7 turnovers in 25.5 minutes per game before the break.

“He’s more comfortable,” Scott said. “He’s not thinking so much out there.”

Yet, Lin argued he mostly feels comfortable because Scott has granted him both more freedom to run the offense and run more pick-and-roll plays.

“That’s who I am,” said Lin, whose $14.9 million contract expires this offseason. “That’s what allowed me to have success in the past. That’s the reason why people are paying me money to play pick-and-roll.”

Scott initially remained reluctant for Lin to play pick-and-roll because he believed the play stunted the team’s ball movement. Scott also preferred varying up the playbook to read how defenses were guarding various offensive approaches.

“Everybody is stationary and it’s easy to guard,” Scott said of the pick-and-roll. “You go to that in a late game situation when you got guys who are rolling pretty good. That’s a different story. But to start the game with that is something I didn’t like.”

Lin has run the play more since the All-Star break. But he said this new trend happened without having any dialogue with Scott about it. Lin also disagreed with Scott’s assessment that the play hurt ball movement.

“I’m a player who will take what the defense gives me,” Lin said. “Whatever it is, if they’re giving me the shot, I’m going to shoot it. If not, I’ll try to get someone else a good shot.”

Injury update

The Lakers listed forward Nick Young as questionable to play in Sunday’s game against Dallas because of a swollen left knee. Scott hoped Young could work out on Saturday during the team’s day off. But the Lakers decided it would be best for Young to rest. His injury has kept him out for the past six games.

Helping out

Lakers forward Jordan Hill attended the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event at Dodger Stadium on Saturday morning, an event that helps raise funds for cancer treatment. In recent seasons, Hill also has purchased tickets and invited breast-cancer survivors to attend various Lakers’ games.

Hill’s mother, Carol, died because of complications with breast cancer when he was 3 years old. Hill’s sister and stepmother also detected early signs of breast cancer and successfully received treatment.

“I’m loving it,” Hill said. “I’m going to do whatever I can and do as much support as possible and be there for my mom and who ever else has had the disease.”