This thing is getting ridiculous, in the best way possible.
On Tuesday, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin hit a game-winning three with 0.5 seconds left to lift his team to a 90-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors.
Lin has come out of nowhere and pulled the Knicks out of their season-long slump. The team has won six straight games, which not-so-coincidentally was the beginning of Lin’s meteoric rise.
When I say Lin came out of nowhere, it is as close to true as that can be in sports. Lin attended Harvard without a sports scholarship, which Ivy League schools do not award.
After an extremely successful college career, including two all-Ivy League first-team selections, Lin went undrafted and signed a contract with the Golden State Warriors. After sporadic playing time in the 2010-2011 season, Lin was waived by the Warriors prior to this season.
Lin played in only nine of the Knicks’ first 22 games this year, reaching double figure minutes just once during that span.
But injuries ravaged the Knicks and Lin finally got some extended minutes Feb. 4 against the New Jersey Nets. He responded with 25 points and seven assists in 36 minutes to lead the team to a 99-92 victory.
Since being inserted into the starting lineup for the Knicks’ next game he hasn’t looked back. He’s averaged 27.2 points and 8.8 assists in his five starts while shooting an even 50 percent from the field. Lin has captured the imagination of basketball fans across the country and has become a fixture on ESPN’s SportsCenter highlights.
But now comes the hard part for Lin and the Knicks. Carmelo Anthony is due to return from his groin injury in the next week or so, and Amare Stoudemire has rejoined the team after mourning the death of his brother. Neither Anthony nor Stoudemire have had their usual spectacular seasons so far, but both will surely resume their place as top scoring options. On Tuesday against the Raptors, Stoudemire played 34 minutes, finishing with 21 points and nine rebounds.
Will there be enough shots to go around when the three take the court together? Coach Mike D’Antoni will surely want Lin to be aggressive as long as he has the hot hand but will also need to get Anthony and Stoudemire involved and productive right away.
Anthony is not the easiest teammate to work with on offense. He is known as a ball-stopper, someone who likes to look for his shot whenever he gets the ball. The Knicks were running tons of isolation offense for Anthony before his injury and Lin’s emergence. Will they go back to that style, one that Anthony is most comfortable operating?
