The Jeremy Lin Encore was even better.
Lin’s penetrating, playmaking and shooting willed the Knicks to another victory despite missing Amar’e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, and with center Tyson Chandler in foul trouble.
In another heroic performance, the former undrafted Harvard point guard was sensational in his first career NBA start. He lifted the club on his back without the Knicks’ two superstars. He set a career high for points, scoring 28, mostly on driving layups, and dished out eight assists as the Knicks beat the Jazz, 99-88, at delirious Madison Square Garden as Lin-mania continued.
“Indescribable,’’ Lin said. “I don’t think anyone saw this coming, including me.’’
Stoudemire left the team indefinitely after his brother was killed in a car wreck early yesterday morning. The grief-stricken Stoudemire even tweeted last night, “Even though I’m going through hard times right now. #SadDay Great job tonight team (Knicks). Jeremy Lin that’s how we play. Ya boy SunTzu.’’
Anthony was next to leave, departing after only 5:49 with a groin strain. Chandler was limited to 22 minutes because of early foul trouble.
No worries.
It was Lin’s night again as the Knicks moved to 10-15 and Lin played 45 hell-bent minutes, making coach Mike D’Antoni’s speedball make sense. He has become D’Antoni’s angel.
“I’m riding him like freakin’ Secretariat,’’ D’Antoni cracked.
Afterward, Lin admitted, “I’m tired. I can’t feel [my legs] right now. They’re in ice packs. Numb.
A half-dozen Giants were in the house, but a new Cinderella story is brewing on Broadway. Lin, the first Chinese-American to play in the NBA and whom the Knicks claimed off waivers Dec. 26, was coming off a 25-point, seven-assist domination against the Nets’ Deron Williams Saturday and last night proved it was no fluke.
Lin got the rock-star treatment. The fans cheered wildy the first time he touched the ball and chanted “MVP’’ when he went to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter.
“He brings so much to the team,’’ Chandler said. “He brings a nice pace. When you have a guard you can trust, it makes everyone better.’’
Lin’s emergence in back-to-back games has given this franchise and D’Antoni hope they’ve filled their greatest weakness, a playmaking point guard who makes this speedball offense hum.
During a giddy postgame press conference, D’Antoni was asked which was the bigger story — the Giants winning the Super Bowl or Jeremy Lin. D’Antoni laughed and he’s laughing a lot these days, his job no longer seemingly in peril as they dig out of a hole with “The Harvard Hurricane.’’
“It’s fun,’’ D’Antoni said. “You can actually draw a play up and think, ‘this might work.’ He’s a playmaker. He has a nice gait and burst of speed. He kind of settles everything. He sets up guys for easy shots and plays the way we like to play. He has the innate ability to see guys. You can’t explain the game all the time and he doesn’t need explaining.’’
D’Antoni wasn’t talking about Steve Nash, it just seemed that way.
Lin did it all, driving to the basket for three reverse layups, converting three 3-point plays on layups while drawing fouls, including two in the fourth quarter when the Jazz rallied from 15 points down to cut it to 3 early in the fourth.
He shot 10 of 17 from the field and made 7 of 9 free throws. He found rarely used Steve Novak for 3-pointers and the shooting specialist made 5 of 8, finishing with 19 points, his Knicks-high. Lin tossed more lobs to Chandler for dunks and worked the pick-and-roll sweetly with Jared Jeffries, who started in place of Stoudemire and scored 13 points.
Iman Shumpert dribbled out the final 15 seconds with the Garden fans on their feet roaring and Lin getting congratulated by each of his mates with the clock ticking down.
Asked if he wanted to score more because the two superstars were missing, Lin said, “It’s not really a conscious decision. If the ball comeback back to me, I’m going to try to make a play. Basketball is fun when you play on a team that wants to work together. The win was ugly but we made plays.’’
The whole landscape of the Knicks point guard position has changed, especially with more bad news about former savior Baron Davis, whose debut may be after the All-Star break if at all.
Lin had zero turnovers in the first half but wound up with eight after some sloppy moments.
“Eight turnovers won’t cut it on most nights,’’ Lin said.
Lin killed the Jazz rally with a game-sealing 3-pointer with 1:58 left. Shumpert had missed a runner, Chandler
batted the rebound to the 3-point line and into Lin’s hands. He calmly sank the trey to put the Knicks up nine points. Lin pranced down court, shaking his head, smiling and winking at Chandler. Frame the picture.
marc.berman@nypost.com