Jeremy Lin may have saved coach Mike D’Antoni’s job for now and the future. And sore-backed Baron Davis may no longer need to be considered team savior.
At long last, the Knicks may have found their point guard after a storybook and perhaps momentous night at giddy Madison Square Garden. Maybe the 9-15 Knicks didn’t need a new coach. They needed a new point guard.
With the delirious crowd chanting “Jeremy!’’ across the second half, the new Garden folk hero came off the bench and provided an electrifying career-high 25-point, seven-assist performance. Lin single-handedly willed the reeling Knicks to a 99-92 victory over the Nets that was as sensational as it was stunning.
The undrafted Harvard graduate whose contract is not even guaranteed blitzed the Nets (8-17) and outplayed and shut down star point guard Deron Williams in a 10-of-19 shooting night that included five rebounds, one turnover and two steals.
“The night hasn’t sunk in yet,’’ Lin said. “I’m kind of shocked by everything that happened. I’m trying to soak it all in.’’
The first Chinese-American to play in the NBA, Lin penetrated Nets defenders for layups like a bull at Pamplona. He notched 19 of his 25 points in the second half, got in the lane whenever he wanted and lofted a series of alley-oop passes for center Tyson Chandler (17 points) for slams.
“He won the game for us,’’ said Carmelo Anthony, who suffered through a miserable 3-of-15, 11-point shooting night on the third game of their back-to-back-to-back. “We fed off his energy.’’
His wild night included “MVP!’’ chants as he stepped to the free-throw line in the fourth quarter and a series of chest-bumps with his ecstatic teammates who mobbed him at the final buzzer.
Lin was so good at a position the Knicks have been so bad at, he likely will be promoted to starting point guard, perhaps as soon as tomorrow against Utah, according to D’Antoni.
“We’ll look and decide after the Super Bowl,’’ D’Antoni said. “One thing I don’t want to do, if I play him 30 minutes, I don’t want to play him 15 straight minutes. That’s crazy.’’
After the game, two dozen reporters surrounded Lin’s locker, blocking Amar’e Stoudemire’s cubicle. Stoudemire yelled gleefully: “Hey, this is all new to me guys,’’ as he weaved to his locker.
The Knicks have looked in the wrong places for their eventual starting point guard, with Toney Douglas, rookie Iman Shumpert and Mike Bibby failing to grasp the playmaking nuances of the speedball attack. Davis’ delayed debut is murkier than ever and now the pressure is off him to come back soon if Lin can be competent.
Lin, claimed off waivers the day after their Christmas opener, is 23 and 10 years younger than the sore-backed Davis.
Lin, whom D’Antoni started to play last Saturday in Houston, got a huge ovation the moment he hopped off the bench late in the first quarter. He checked in with 3:33 left in the first quarter and finished the half.
It was only Lin’s 10th game this season. Two-and-half weeks ago, he was sent to their D-League affiliate to get playing time and posted a triple-double in one of his two games.
They needed all of Lin’s game as D’Antoni’s job security had become a big issue as the Knicks entered last night on a four-game losing streak, having lost 11 of 13 games. They Knicks are just 9-15 but provided hope that their other big issue — lack of a point guard — has been solved.
“He has a rhyme or reason to what he is doing and you can play off that,’’ D’Antoni said. “Otherwise you are grasping at straws. Again it is one game. Let’s not get too excited. [But ] it is something we sorely needed.’’
“If you would have told me Melo would go 3 of 15 and Amare would be in foul trouble, I’d think, man, we win by double figures,’’ Nets coach Avery Johnson said. “But when you have a guy coming off your bench like that and getting 25 points, it’s pretty deflating.’’