NEW YORK — This might be the end of Linsanity as we’ve known it.
The Knicks announced Saturday night prior to their game against Cleveland that Lin recently had an MRI that revealed a slight tear to the meniscus in his left knee. Lin will have a minor surgical procedure that will sideline him for 6 weeks. That means Lin will be unavailable before the beginning of May, when the playoffs will already be underway.
The news is a major blow to the Knicks. After going 8-2 over their previous 10 games, their lead over the Milwaukee Bucks is a slim 1 1/2 games.
“It’s a big blow,” said coach Mike Woodson. According to him, the injury is not considered career threatening. Obviously though, for the Knicks, it is playoff threatening.
Coach Woodson expects Toney Douglas and Mike Bibby to play more in Lin’s absence.
“We did everything we could,” Lin said. “Today was the one-week mark, and this morning I got on the court to see how I feel and the decision was made this morning. I can’t run or cut so it’s pretty clear that I won’t be able to help the team until I get this fixed. It’s a six-week rehab process but I tend to heal quick so hopefully I’ll be able to help the team this season.”
” I got three, four opinions, and it was pretty much all the same thing,” Lin said. “The surgery will take place early next week in New York. This is one of the most simple surgeries you can have.”
Lin’s incredible regular season coined the term “Linsanity” and temporarily saved coach Mike D’Antoni’s job. In 25 starts he averaged 18.2 points, 3.7 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 2.0 steals and 4.7 turnovers.
Lin is unsure when he hurt the knee.
“The confusing part is that there was not one incident that I remember. It was bothering me a little bit, and then it bothered me a little more, and then in the second half of the Detroit game I was feeling discomfort so I went in the locker room to check it out,” he said. “All the players, we put our heart and soul into the season and to not be there at the end when it really matters the most is hard.”
Knee Operation
he earlier methods were to resurface the joint with biological materials, and they didn’t stand up to wear. Then simple hinged joints were tried, and they broke or worked loose. Progressively the problems were revealed by experience and the currently employed prostheses are so much more satisfactory that the operation is performed in the United States on about 130,000 knees each year and the longest duration available shows 94% satisfaction 15 years after the operation. But there are problems that have occurred and will occur again. Most doctors will agree that surgical replacement of a joint is a last resort, to be undertaken when all other measures have proven insufficient to overcome a real and increasingly severe problem.