Jeremy Lin Scores Career-High 38 Points to Lead Knicks to 4th Straight Win
Jeremy Lin scored a career-high 38 points as the New York Knicks defeated Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Lin led the Knicks to their fourth straight victory, a 92-85 win against the Lakers. Bryant, who holds the record with 61 points in a single game at Madison Square Garden and tops the list for most field goals in the National Basketball Association this season, had 34 points and 10 rebounds last night.
“The only thing we established tonight was getting four in a row, and we’re going for five tomorrow,” Lin told reporters, referring to tonight’s game at Minnesota. “I’m not worried now about proving anything to anybody. As a team we’re building on momentum. That’s what everyone is buying into.”
Lin, 23, who wasn’t drafted by any NBA team after playing at Harvard University, was given minimal time on the court until recently by the Knicks, who are missing Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Baron Davis. In each of the last four Knicks wins, Lin has scored at least 20 points.
“As a team he lifts us up,” Knicks forward Jared Jeffries said. “It’s weird to have a guy come in and be your team leader, who’s bounced around. He inspires all of us to play harder because this kid gives his all on a daily basis.”
D’Antoni Shocked
Lin’s 38 points surpassed the Knicks’ previous season-high 37 scored by Anthony in the season opener against Boston.
“To be honest with you, 38 points, I was shocked,” Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He got 38 points in the context of team basketball. To me, that really says it all.”
D’Antoni said he can’t believe the way Lin’s ability was hidden during his first season in the NBA. Lin averaged 2.6 points in 29 games for Golden State as a rookie last year.
“I have never seen anything like this,” he said. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. For Lin to go unnoticed this long -- hard to do.”
The point guard tallied nine of the Knicks’ first 13 points before the hometown fans, many of them sporting his No. 17 jerseys and T-shirts that had arrived earlier in the day.
The Knicks had a 49-41 halftime advantage with Lin contributing 18 points. He ended the game connecting on 13 of 23 field goal attempts, two of four 3-pointers and 10 of 13 free throws. Iman Shumpert added 12 points for New York, which beat the Lakers for the first time in their last 10 meetings, dating back to February 2007.
“I think it’s a great story,” Bryant said of Lin. “It’s a testament to perseverance and hard work, and I think a good example for kids everywhere.”
Pau Gasol had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Lakers.
The Knicks (12-15) are in third place, six games behind the Philadelphia 76ers, in the Eastern Conference’s five-team Atlantic Division.
The Lakers (15-12) are second in the Western Conference’s five-team Pacific Division, 2 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Clippers.
To contact the reporter on this story: Nancy Kercheval in Washington at nkercheval@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Sillup at msillup@bloomberg.net
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