LINSANITY: New York Knicks' Jeremy Lin reacts after scoring during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Los Angeles Lakers, Friday, Feb. 10, 2012, in New York. (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
NEW YORK – Jeremy Lin passed his biggest test since bursting onto the NBA scene last weekend, scoring a career-high 38 points to lead the Knicks to a victory over Kobe Bryant’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Lin, the first American of Taiwanese and Chinese heritage to play in the NBA, rewarded the faith of his fans, making 13-of-23 shots from the floor and passing out seven assists in the Knicks’ 92-85 victory over the Lakers.
With the sell-out crowd at Madison Square Garden cheering his every move, Lin lifted the Knicks to their fourth straight victory – the fourth straight game in which he has scored 23 points or more.
He has been a revelation for the Knicks, who picked him up after he was cut by first Golden State and then Houston in December.
Since scoring 25 points off the bench to help the Knicks beat New Jersey last Saturday, Lin has gone from strength to strength.
He delivered 28 points in a win over Utah and 23 in a win at Washington in his first two NBA starts.
On Friday, Lin had a hand in New York’s first 16 points, scoring 10 and handing out three assists.
It hardly seemed to matter that Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, nursing a strained groin, wasn’t in uniform and Amare Stoudemire wasn’t even in the building as he spends time with family after the death of his brother.
Rookie Iman Shumpert scored 12 points off the bench for the Knicks. Tyson Chandler scored nine points with 11 rebounds and keyed the Knicks’ solid defensive showing.
Bryant led the Lakers with 34 points and 10 rebounds. Pau Gasol added 16 points and 10 rebounds, but for fans at the Garden it was all about Lin.
He delighted them with a spin around Derek Fisher en route to a first-half lay-up.
In the fourth quarter he drained a long two-point jump shot over Gasol.
A Lin jump-shot gave New York a 10-point lead later in the fourth, and on the next possession he drained a three-pointer that gave the Knicks an 84-71 lead and sent the crowd wild.