TORONTO — Iman Shumpert played possum most of the fourth quarter, thinking he could pick Jose Calderon’s pocket a few times, but never sensing the time was right.
As it was, Shumpert had given the Knicks a fighting chance in this game by smothering Calderon, who spent the first three quarters scoffing at “Linsanity,” torching the Knicks — and mostly Jeremy Lin — for 25 points, making 11 of his first 15 shots.
“And then,” Jared Jeffries said, “Shump came in and said, ‘Enough of that.’ ”
What you will remember first from this remarkable 90-87 Knicks win over the Raptors last night will be Lin’s heroics late, one traditional three-point play to tie the game, one newfangled one to win it.
But without Shumpert, Lin never has a stage to dance on, never has a curtain call to make. Guarding Calderon for 10 minutes in the fourth quarter, he only allowed the Toronto guard to get off two shots, both of which missed badly.
Then, with the Knicks down five, with Amar’e Stoudemire having been rebuffed in his attempt to cut that lead to three by having a layup blocked, Shumpert seized the moment. He flicked the ball away from Calderon, he caught up to it, and he delivered a rim-rattling dunk that stunned the 20,092 inside Air Canada Centre and energized the Knicks completely.
“Without Iman,” coach Mike D’Antoni said, “Jeremy never has the chance to win the game because we never put him in a position to do it. That steal did it for us. That steal allowed us to win this game.”
The early portion of Shumpert’s season was marked be a few spectacular highs and some resounding lows — his shot selection spotty, his ability to play point guard compromised. But since Lin took over most of the point-guard minutes, allowing Shumpert to play combo, he has thrived, on both ends of the floor.
But especially on defense.
“He’s about as good an on-ball defender as there is in the league right now,” said Jeffries, who knows a thing or three about defense. “And he’s only getting better. That’s the remarkable thing.”