TORONTO, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) — The legend of Jeremy Lin continued as he hit a game-winning three-pointer with 0.5 second left to lead the Knicks to a 90-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors on Tuesday night.
The victory marked the sixth consecutive victory for the 14-15 Knicks and also saw the return of forward/center Amar’e Stoudemire who came back after a four-game absence.
In front of a season-high crowd of 20,092 fans, Lin did not disappoint them, scoring 27 points and a career-high 11 assists. In total, he played a game-high of 43 minutes and 10 seconds, the second most in his young career.
Lin started the game slowly, scoring his first two points almost eight minutes into the opening frame. His struggles continued into the third quarter as he struggled on both ends of the floor.
In the first three quarters, Lin allowed Raptors point guard Jose Calderon to score 25 points on 11 of 15 field goals. Lin on the other hand had 15 points on a less efficient six of 15 shooting along with six turnovers.
Once the fourth quarter started, Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni switched to a more defensive line-up, holding the Raptors to only 12 points on five of 15 shooting in the final frame. The most noticeable substitution was that of Iman Shumpert, who was assigned to defend Calderon and kept him off the score sheet for the entire quarter.
The defensive efforts allowed the Knicks to rally from being down 77-86 with four minutes left to an 84-87 game with 90 seconds left.
The final 90 seconds was when Lin went to work. With ball in hand, the 23-year-old guard drove to the basket and converted on an acrobatic layup while being fouled by Raptors forward Amir Johnson. The successful free throw negated the Raptors lead for the first time since the Knicks led 13-12 in the first quarter.
On the ensuing play, the Knicks once again came up with a defensive stop and set the stage for Lin to hit the three-point dagger that broke the hearts of all Raptors fans at the Air Canada centre.
“I know my percentage is low, but I hired a shooting coach this summer and he helped me a ton with my shot and I’m not going to stop shooting if I feel it’s a good shot,” said Lin, during the post-game press conference that saw over 60 representatives from the media covering the game.
“It’s not because of me, it’s because we’re coming together as a team…I just love playing on a team that wants to be a team and this team wants to be a team,” he said.
The Knicks look to extend their streak to seven games when they host the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday evening.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/sports/2012-02/15/c_131412152.htm
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