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A fan shows his support for Jeremy Lin (not pictured) during last night’s game in Miami. (Getty Images)
MIAMI — After the second game of Jeremy Lin’s emergence, the day after Super Sunday, a reporter asked Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni if the undrafted point guard out of Harvard had become a bigger story than the Giants winning the Super Bowl.
D’Antoni snickered at the absurdity.
“Not quite,’’ he said.
D’Antoni is not laughing anymore, as the Knicks enter this weekend’s All-Star break as the “it’’ team of the sports world, with fans across the globe wondering how the club — and Lin — fared.
Regardless of last night’s 102-88 loss in Miami, where Lin finally had his worst game by far with eight points, eight turnovers, three assists and 1 of 11 shooting, the Knicks know they are a marked team. Yet one still full of questions regarding how D’Antoni will structure his ever-growing rotation when they become fully healthy. That should come Wednesday against Cleveland in their first game out of the break.
Clearly, there is work to do.
Covering Lin now is like covering the sports version of Elvis Presley. When he bounces into the locker room, as he did last night to sort tickets for friends, a handful of journalists take out their cell phone cameras to record his every move. Meanwhile, in the other locker room, LeBron James walks around in relative peace. President Obama is not being asked about King James but about Linsanity, lamenting he couldn’t join the fun here last night because of a fund-raising dinner in Orlando.
Asked last night if he hopes the phenomenon quality surrounding his club ends, D’Antoni said he hoped not.
“It means we’re winning. I think losing will take care of that,” he said. “It’s a good story. He’s always going to generate a buzz and the Knicks generate a buzz when we’re playing well. Hopefully it’s off the charts.’’
The surreal feel around the Knicks, who entered last night’s game against the Heat at the .500 mark, was the perfect storm. Their 9-2 surge occurred during sports’ dead period, after the Super Bowl and before spring training hits its stride.
Around the NBA, the Knicks’ identity has changed in just three weeks from a club with a razor-thin bench with no point guard, poor chemistry and guided by a coach whose job security was a major issue. The pre-Lin Knicks were once an 8-15 mess, viewed in some circles as stuck in mediocrity because of talented but ill-fitting pieces and no future cap space.
Lin changed it all. The greatest need for D’Antoni’s offense is now filled not only by Lin, but by a capable backup in Baron Davis. The Knicks’ biggest problem now is too much depth and keeping everyone happy with their minutes.
Knicks rookie power forward Josh Harrellson, who has been out more than a month with a broken wrist, was a regular rotation player and could be back Wednesday. What happens to defensive stalwart Jared Jeffries and 3-point ace Steve Novak, two keys to the recent run, when Harrellson comes back? D’Antoni said yesterday it will be difficult not to get Harrellson his minutes back because of his defensive grit.
Next week, the Knicks play just once in six days. It gives D’Antoni — finally — ample practice time to fit the new pieces together. In fact, after Cleveland, D’Antoni is considering a mini-training camp, practicing three straight days before a four-game road trip starting in Boston a week from Sunday.
“You got Josh and [Iman] Shumpert back, we’ll have 35 guys who can play,’’ D’Antoni said. “We’ll have five practices to figure everything out.’’
Even if Bill Walker, who started while Carmelo Anthony was sidelined, falls out of the rotation, D’Antoni could go 11 players deep.
There’s a lot to sort out, including how to prepare for opponents sick of Linsanity. Dwyane Wade snarkily commented Wednesday he was happy there was only one more day to talk about Lin. But then Wade added, “But there’s also All-Star weekend.’’
“Teams always want to beat the Knicks,’’ D’Antoni said. “I always wanted to beat you guys when I was in Phoenix. It’s a story. He’ll be a marked man. He should be. But anybody comes in the Garden, you know how Kobe tries to plays it and how LeBron does. They come in and their eyes light up.”