The Linsanity surrounding the Knicks has swallowed up everything around the team outside of its sudden-star point guard.
But as the Knicks stretched their winning streak to seven games with last night’s 100-85 laugher against the Kings at Madison Square Garden, both Landry Fields and Tyson Chandler continued to show why they have been almost equally important to the recent success.
Fields finished with 15 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Chandler (nine points) continued to combine with Lin to run the pick-and-roll with ruthless efficiency.
“We’ve come a long way,” said Chandler as the Knicks improved to 15-15 with the win. “But you know what? This was a team that everybody was kind of giving up on us in the beginning of the season, and if you understood what the season was about, you knew it would be difficult.
“We were a team that was kind of thrown together. We didn’t have a training camp, really, and not many practices. It’s just about being patient, and we got a little help from this little guy that came along and gave us a little boost.”
Since Lin was inserted into the lineup on Feb. 4 against the Nets, he and Chandler have combined to run the pick-and-roll to perfection, setting up one open lob for the Knicks’ center after another and reinvigorating Mike D’Antoni’s offense.
“[Lin] has a great ability to run the offense and [D’Antoni], his entire career, has had an ability to make point guards great,” Chandler said. “Jeremy came in and fit that role perfectly.”
Fields, meanwhile, again looks like the player he was at the beginning of last season, confidently running the pick-and-roll and getting back to attacking the glass, which is how he made his name after being an unheralded second-round pick a year ago.
“I’m just trying to maintain, go out there, learn from mistakes and try to remain confident,” Fields said. “It’s just really fun to be a part of this team right now.”
D’Antoni felt Fields’ recent resurgence was simply a result of him working his way back into the Knicks’ system after spending several months away from the team during the lockout.
“Landry’s natural position is not the two, and, during the lockout, [we couldn’t] work with him,” D’Antoni said. “Somebody else was doing it, and when he came back, he wasn’t quite ready for the season. He’s come off the bad part of last year, so he hears all of that in his ear, lost his confidence, lost his rhythm, lost his shot, and we didn’t have any practices to help him.
“We just had to stick with him, and he’s really playing well now.”