NBA

Knicks coach backs Lin ‘right now’

Now that Mike Woodson has been named the Knicks head coach with a contract to show for it, he is starting to make declarations about his team.

Yesterday on the Michael Kay Show on ESPN Radio, Woodson called Jeremy Lin his starting point guard, as opposed to his ambiguous response on the team’s breakup day when he said, “Only time will tell.”

“Right now, he is our starting point guard, without a doubt,” Woodson said. “I’ve always believed this: When a starter goes down he doesn’t lose his job because of an injury. You welcome him back with open arms when he gets healthy and you keep it moving.”

Lin tore the meniscus in his left knee in late March and didn’t play again the rest of the season, as the Knicks went on to lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Heat.

“That’s what we’re going to do when we get [Lin] signed,” Woodson said of the unsigned restricted free agent. “We’ll get him back in uniform … and get him ready for practice and camp and throw the ball in his hands and say, ‘Let’s go.’ ”