Knicks focus of win not Jeremy Lin
Houston Rockets guard Jeremy Lin passes the ball during a game against the Miami Heat at the Toyota Center. (Nov. 12, 2012) Credit: Getty
DALLAS -- The Knicks aren't going into Friday's game in Houston with extra motivation to try and shut down Jeremy Lin -- or so they say.
"We want to beat everybody," Tyson Chandler said. "We don't want anybody to get off on us. You can say that, but it ain't him. It's everybody we line up against."
A popular opinion is the Knicks would try to blitz, pressure and play Lin physically, and try to make him look overmatched. That's what the Heat did the first time the Knicks visited Miami after Lin-sanity took over the NBA.
This will be the first time the Knicks face Lin since he signed a three-year, $25.1-million deal that the organization decided not to match. Little shots already have been taken at Lin, who was ultimately replaced by Raymond Felton.
At the time, Carmelo Anthony described the contract -- which pays Lin $14.9 million in the third year -- as "ridiculous." J.R. Smith said there could be problems in the locker room if Lin returned because of how much he was making compared to more established players. And during training camp Chandler said Lin wasn't ready to run a team.
If anything Lin should have extra motivation.
"We're not looking to embarrass or lock anybody down," Jason Kidd said. "We're looking to win on the road. Whatever we have to do to make it tough for Houston that's what we have to do. But individually, you win and lose as a team."
Last year, Kidd delivered a hard foul on Lin the second time the Knicks and Mavericks played. Lin had 28 points and 14 assists in the first meeting at the Garden. But when Kidd signed with the Knicks, he said he looked forward to mentoring Lin.
"It would've been great," Kidd said. "His name changed to Ray Felton so I would have done the same thing with him."
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