In the course of a week, -Taiwanese-American Jeremy Lin has gone from basketball obscurity to being the NBA’s newest playmaking sensation.
The New York Knicks guard has earned more than 60,000 Twitter followers in just five days. Now, he also has his first NBA dunk.
Lin had 23 points and a -career-high 10 assists in New York’s 107-93 win over the Wizards in Washington on Wednesday.
Photo: AFP
Late in the third quarter, with the Knicks up by four, Lin drove past three Wizards players and suddenly was alone in front of the hoop. He slammed it through with his right hand.
“Just one of those in-a-moment things,” Lin said. “They messed up on their coverage, so I was able to get free.”
In his previous two games, Lin had 25 points against New Jersey and 28 more against Utah in his first start — both wins. Now, the Harvard graduate had to go on the road, but instead of facing a hostile crowd, Lin found an adoring one.
The fans cheered louder for Lin than for any other player in introductions, waving Taiwanese flags and signs — including one that read: “Linning and Grinning.”
By the time the game ended, the crowd was chanting for him as he walked off the floor.
“Like I said after the last game, I wouldn’t have imagined this,” said Lin, who was undrafted in 2010 and played his rookie season in Golden State.
“Thanks to them for coming out and they came out strong for the Knicks tonight,” he added. “We had a lot of energy that came from them.”
When the Knicks last played on Jan. 6, Lin did not play at all. With their two leading scorers missing — Carmelo Anthony gone for a week or two with a strained right groin and Amare Stoudemire mourning the loss of his brother — New York desperately needed Lin’s scoring this time around.
He did not single-handedly make up for the 40 points that Anthony and Stoudemire provide, but sure energized the decidedly pro-New York crowd.
“He just does everything easy and the rest of the guys around him are playing the way we want to play,” New York coach Mike D’Antoni said.
Wizards coach Randy Wittman knew about Lin from a close relative. His son played against Lin in college. Ryan Wittman, who played for Cornell, sent his father a sarcastic message during the game.
“He told me that they did a much better job guarding him than we did tonight,” Wittman said. “I already had that text message before the game was over. Makes Dad feel good.”
The Knicks shot just 25 percent in the first quarter and trailed 23-17. Lin missed all three shots he attempted, and moments after the third, he was called for his second foul and sustained a gash and left the game with 4:06 to play.
Lin returned about two minutes into the second quarter and scored eight points — on three layups and a pretty 5.2m bank shot just before halftime.
Lin scored on a bank shot to start the third quarter, and after Washington scored the next 10 points for a 56-54 lead, he hit four free throws, another layup and a right-handed dunk with 2:59 left to give the Knicks a 72-66 lead. He made another layup to end the quarter with 12 points — and a 77-68 New York advantage. The Wizards narrowed the deficit to 79-72, but Lin helped give New York a 103-85 lead with 3:22 to play.
SPURS 100, 76ERS 90
In Philadelphia, San Antonio’s Tony Parker scored 37 points to lead the Spurs to a 100-90 win over the Philadelphia 76ers in Wednesday’s clash of two NBA divisional leaders.
Gary Neal added 18 off the bench for the Southwest Division-leading Spurs, who improved their road record to 5-8, against their impressive home record of 13-1.
Lou Williams scored 22 points for the Atlantic Division-leading Sixers, who are 4-2 nearing the end of a seven-game stretch against the league’s top teams. They have lost to the Spurs and Miami, but beat Orlando, Chicago, Atlanta and the Los Angeles Lakers.
MAGIC 102, HEAT 89
In Orlando, Dwight Howard had 25 points and 24 rebounds as long-shooting Orlando beat Miami.
Ryan Anderson scored 27 for the Magic, who hit 17 three--pointers. Anderson had five three--pointers — all in the first half — and grabbed 11 rebounds, while Howard posted his 20th double-double of the season.
Orlando set a team record with 42 three-point attempts, but were two short of the record for most converted.
Dwyane Wade led the Heat with 33 points, but only 11 after halftime, as Miami’s three-game streak was ended.
HAWKS 97, PACERS 87
In Atlanta, Josh Smith scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as Atlanta defeated Indiana to snap a three-game home losing streak.
The Hawks, who had fallen -behind by big margins in each game on the homestand, finally got off to a good start. Atlanta built a 21-point lead in the first half and withstood repeated runs by Indiana over the final two quarters.
Joe Johnson added 20 points for the Hawks.
Danny Granger scored 21 points to lead the Pacers, who have lost nine straight in Atlanta, dating back to 2006.
MAVERICKS 105, NUGGETS 95
In Denver, Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points as Dallas snapped a three-game losing skid by beating undermanned Denver.
Vince Carter added 17 for the Mavericks, who won despite the ongoing absence of the injured Jason Kidd.
Rudy Fernandez and Al Harrington each had 17 points off the bench to lead the Nuggets, who lost their fourth straight.
Arron Afflalo and Nene returned to Denver’s lineup after sitting out Monday’s loss to Houston, but Denver were still without leading scorer Danilo Gallinari (left ankle) and Timofey Mozgov (left ankle). Corey Brewer was absent following the death of his father.
ROCKETS 103, TRAIL BLAZERS 96
In Portland, Chase Budinger had 22 points off the bench to lead Houston past Portland.
Starting guard Kyle Lowry had 12 points before he left with an arm injury late in the third quarter and he did not return. The extent of the injury was not immediately known.
Jamal Crawford came off the bench to score 21 points for the Trail Blazers, who rallied to tie it 77-77 in the fourth quarter.
BULLS 90, HORNETS 67
In New Orleans, Chicago held New Orleans in check, with the hosts only just avoiding a franchise--record low score.
Marco Belinelli’s three-pointer with just a second left carried the Hornets past the club low of 65 points.
Carlos Boozer scored 18 points and Joakim Noah had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulls, who won their fourth straight game.
Chris Kaman scored 17 for the Hornets.
GRIZZLIES 85, TIMBERWOLVES 80
In Memphis, Rudy Gay had 19 points and nine rebounds as Memphis halted a three-game slide with victory over Minnesota.
Quincy Pondexter added a career-high 17 points for the Grizzlies, who won despite shooting just 37 percent.
J.J. Barea led the Timberwolves with 17 points and six assists. Minnesota were also inaccurate, shooting just 39 percent and setting a season low for points. They played without leading scorer Kevin Love, who completed his two-game suspension.
CAVALIERS 99, CLIPPERS 92
In Cleveland, Ramon Sessions scored 24 points in his first start of the season as a last-minute replacement for injured Kyrie Irving as Cleveland downed Los Angeles.
Antawn Jamison scored 27 points to lead Cleveland.
Blake Griffin had 25 points and 15 rebounds for the Clippers, who tied it at 87-87 with 2:10 left after having trailed by 15 in the third quarter, but could not get ahead.
Los Angeles were playing their first game without injured guard Chauncey Billups, out for the season with a torn Achilles tendon.
BUCKS 105, RAPTORS 99
In Toronto, Carlos Delfino scored a season-high 25 points against his former team as Milwaukee won their first game in four, beating Toronto.
Delfino, who played for the Raptors in 2007-2008, matched his season high with nine rebounds.
Drew Gooden had 20 points and 14 rebounds for the Bucks, who have won seven of the past eight against the Raptors.
DeMar DeRozan scored 25 points for Toronto, who have lost three straight.
PISTONS 99, NETS 92
In Newark, Greg Monroe had 20 points and 12 rebounds to lift Detroit over New Jersey for their -season-best third straight victory.
Jonas Jerebko added 16 points as the Pistons snapped a seven-game road losing streak despite giving away most of an 18-point second-half lead.
Deron Williams scored 17 of his 34 points in the fourth quarter to lead the Nets, who have lost four in a row.
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