Lin takes charge in the fourth quarter
Jeremy Lin goes up for a shot as Philadelphia 76ers' Thaddeus Young defends in the first half. (March 21, 2012) Credit: AP
PHILADELPHIA -- He missed layups. He missed a couple of easy runners. And he missed more than a few open jump shots.
That's what the first three quarters of last night's 82-79 Knicks win over Philadelphia looked like for Jeremy Lin. The Knicks' point guard appeared to be heading for one of his worst games as a starter, missing 10 of his first 11 shots.
Lin, however, managed to shake off the rough performance and scored 16 of his 18 points in the final quarter as the Knicks improved to 5-0 under interim coach Mike Woodson. Lin, who hit eight free throws in the final 1:02, finished with 18 points, three assists and two turnovers.
"I put the ball back in his hand at the end and he came up with the big plays," Woodson said. "He got to the free- throw line. That's what your point guard is supposed to do. Somebody has to get to the free-throw line."
The game followed Lin's best night since Woodson took over as coach last week. Lin had an 18-point, 10-assist, three-turnover outing against the Raptors on Tuesday, but early in last night's game he seemed to be showing some of the strain of playing a tough team on the second night of a back-to-back.
Lin struggled mightily in the first half as the Knicks failed to capitalize on the offensive ineptitude of the 76ers, who missed their first 14 shots. His poor start was disappointing because it had seemed that Lin was just starting to flourish in Woodson's system. Woodson went with Baron Davis for most of the second quarter, but he showed no hesitation about going to Lin in the fourth quarter.
The Knicks entered the final quarter leading 59-58. Lin hit three big shots in the first six minutes of the quarter, including a driving layup that gave the Knicks a 69-63 lead with 6:02 remaining.
There were a fair amount of New York fans, many wearing Lin shirts, at the game and they cheered for the Knicks as the final seconds wore down.
Woodson said he wasn't surprised to see Lin take over in the fourth quarter. "He's done that all since the beginning of Lin-sanity," Woodson said.
