Jeremy Lin carries Carmelo - Stoudemire less New York Knicks over Utah Jazz: NBA Recap
With Amare’ Stoudemire in Florida to attend the funeral of the elder brother, Hazell Stoudemire, and Carmelo Anthony bowing out due to a strained calf muscle after just six minutes, the New York Knicks, who have been in a tail
spin off late, were up against it in a game against the Utah Jazz.
However, out of the blue, under fire coach Mike D’ Antoni found a messiah in Jeremy Lin, the reserve point guard. The first American born player of Chinese origin erupted with a career high 28 points and dished out 8 assists as
the Knicks overcame the Jazz 99-88.
The win has also put an end to the point guard quandary for D’ Antoni. Till now, the Knicks were waiting for Baron Davis to gain fitness, however with Lin showing his mettle, the Madison Square Garden franchise seems to have found
the distributor, they so badly needed.
Lin was however not the only surprise package for the Knicks. Steve Novak, who had barely got 8 minutes in 12 games this season was also sensational. The 6ft 10 forward slammed home 5 of 8 treys enroute to a 19 point effort. Jared
Jeffries had 13 points and 8 rebounds; Bill Walker posted 11 points off the bench while Tyson Chandler had 10 points, 7 boards and three blocks.
The Knicks big was all praise for Lin post game;
"What Jeremy is doing is incredible. Everybody is playing their natural position. The ball is moving much better, we're having a nice flow, a nice tempo.”
Jazz started the game with a jumper from Al Jefferson, who led them with 22 points on a 9-of-20 shooting. However the Knicks started moving after that and raced away to a 12-3 run to draw out a 12-5 lead. That was where Anthony
got hurt and with him also departed Knicks’ momentum. Utah pulled off a 9-5 spurt in the ensuing passage before Toney Douglas made a jumper to give the Knicks a 19-16 lead entering into the second frame.
Walker started the second quarter on a three and after Jazz scored 4 points in a row, Chandler counted 6 points on a trot to initiate a 13 point unanswered run which gave New York a 37-22 lead. Jazz responded with a barrage of
shots, but Novak’s brilliant shooting, from both sides of the arc, ensured that New York went into the break with a 51-38 lead.
Utah however stuck to their task and after missing the first two shots in the frame, they made the next six to close in at 54-59. The pressure just kept on mounting and when Raja Bell delivered a brace from distance to cap the
quarter, Jazz made it a two point game 73-75. Bell finished the game with 15 points.
Lin however came to rescue the Knicks.
He started off with a three point play to stretch the lead back to five and then contributed 5 points in a game changing 12-2 run that sealed the deal for New York. The point guard finished with 13 points in the stanza and expressed
his jubilation after the game;
"Basketball's so fun when you play on a team where people want to work together and work through tough times and overcome them and have victories like this," Lin said. "This one was ugly and we lost a couple of players, but this
team has a lot of will."
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