The story of Jeremy Lin has been that of a fairy tale, an unscripted movie, since he took over the reins of the Knicks some three weeks ago. Capturing the hearts of basketball fans around the globe, he answered all questions and exceeded all expectations one big game after another, be it Kobe Bryant or the NBA champs.
On Thursday, Lin faced LeBron James and the suffocating defense of the Miami Heat. The best team in the league came prepared to put an end to the Lin hysteria, privately vowing to hold him to 10 points or less.
And just like that, Linsanity came to a screeching halt.
Out to make a statement about where the real story of the NBA season lies, the Heat completely shut down Lin in a 102-88 home victory over the Knicks. Miami has won eight straight games – all by 12 points or more – and continues to play the best stretch of basketball in the “Big Three” era.
In a playoff-type atmosphere, Lin was overwhelmed and finally ran out of answers as the Heat swarmed him with every possession and applied pressure to the point where even putting the ball on the floor became a challenge.
From Howard Beck of The New York Times: “Lin could not find a rhythm or room to operate and had his worst performance since this mystical ride began. He had as many turnovers as points (8), missed 10 of 11 shots and collected just three assists — his lowest total since he became the Knicks’ primary point guard on Feb. 4. “It’s hard to be Peter Pan every day,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “He just had an off day. He’ll go back at it. He’s not daunted at all.” With Lin stumbling, the Knicks struggled to generate much offense and slipped to 17-18 as they headed into the All-Star break. Miami pushed its record to 27-7. … Carmelo Anthony tried to ignite the Knicks late and finished with 19 points, but he was 7 for 20 from the field, which was emblematic of the Knicks’ night. Amar’e Stoudemire had few opportunities and scored 13 points. … Since exploding onto the N.B.A. stage earlier this month, Lin has grown accustomed to the increased attention, from fans and defenses alike. Teams are crowding him and forcing him to go left (his weaker direction) and making him a focus of their game plans. The Heat took it to another level. “I can’t remember another game where it was hard to just take dribbles,” Lin said.”
The Knicks are still in the process of integrating key pieces and are learning to play with each other on the fly without much practice time. The Heat, on the other hand, know exactly who they are and what they need to do to win games in dominant fashion after a year-plus together under their belts. With the first half of the season coming to a close, it has become clear that they are the team to beat, period.
From Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald: “They’re some of the best pick-and-roll defenders,” D’Antoni said. “The first time you see it, the speed is overwhelming.” Indeed, the Heat forced 15 turnovers in the first half. Lin and Amare Stoudemire had six each, the most for any Heat opponents in a half this season. The Heat forced 19 turnovers overall with 12 steals and 10 blocks. LeBron James had five steals — a season high — to go along with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists. Then there was Joel Anthony, the Heat’s no-name center, who had one of his best games of the season despite not scoring. He had five blocks, tying a season high set in the last victory against the Knicks, and was instrumental in helping shut down the Knicks’ pick-and-roll game. “Joel Anthony is one of the cornerstones of what we do,” Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. … Anthony was just getting started. He stuffed Lin from close range with 3:06 left in the third quarter, and Shane Battier turned it into a three-pointer at the other end. Anthony then absorbed an offensive foul by Carmelo Anthony on the next possession, and the sold-out arena offered a deafening standing ovation. The Heat imposed its will early, using a furious defensive start to build a 24-20 lead after the first quarter. Guards Chalmers and Norris Cole played the first half as if the arrival of Lin and all his overexposure was an affront to their collective manhood. So amped was Chalmers that he picked up four fouls early in the third quarter and only played 25 minutes. Cole, after stealing the ball from Lin on his first possession of the second quarter, sprinted to the rim on a fast break and threw down the first dunk of his NBA career. … “We understand [defense] is our staple every night,” James said. “In order for us to win basketball games, we’ve got to defend, and on the other end we’ve got to share the ball. When we run, we’re kind of unbeatable because we get up the court so fast.”
Although the defense of the Knicks helped keep the game close for much of the first half, they could not match the Heat’s intensity on both ends of the court for the entire game. The teams will meet one more time this season in April at New York.
Although Lin will be playing in the Rising Stars Challenge on Friday night, the Knicks will get some much needed rest – they don’t play again until Wednesday – and finally have some time to practice to better understand the different assets that have joined the team as they end the first half of the season well in the playoff hunt.
In the nightcap of TNT’s doubleheader, the other best team in the league was once again on full display as the Thunder made a statement of their own and convincingly defeated the Lakers, 100-85 for their fifth straight victory. James Harden made sure Kobe Bryant knew about it, too.
From Darnell Mayberry of The Oklahoman: “If the league has been too wrapped up in Linsanity to see what’s taking place in Oklahoma City, the Thunder just strung together a week that should put everyone on notice as All-Star Weekend now arrives. … In its final statement before All-Star Weekend, the Thunder put on a defensive clinic against L.A., holding the Lakers to 38.5 percent shooting and limiting star guard Kobe Bryant to 24 points on 24 shots. OKC also out-rebounded L.A., the league’s best team under the glass, and had little difficulty scoring against the Lakers’ twin towers of Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. But nothing illustrated the Thunder’s rising supremacy better than an exchange late in the game between Bryant and James Harden. The two began exchanging words at the end of a Lakers possession, and words quickly turned into a stare-down. The two eventually had to be separated. The message, though, had been sent. “We don’t back down,” Brooks said. “I don’t coach the perfect players or the perfect team, and they’re not coached by the perfect coach. But one thing we don’t do is we don’t back down. You don’t fight in this league. You have to play basketball. You have to compete and you have to make your opponent respect you by outworking them. And we have a team built on work and effort and energy. And our guys are continuing to get better and continuing to play better.”
So the Thunder are feeling pretty good about themselves. The Lakers? Not so much.
From Mike Bresnahan of Los Angeles Times: “The Lakers look broken. … The stat of the game, not that it was overly surprising: Oklahoma City had 21 fastbreak points, the Lakers only six. The runner-up observation of the game: Andrew Bynum andKobe Bryant, the Lakers’ two All-Stars, never found their shot all night. Bynum had 14 points on five-for-15 shooting. … Apologies up front if it sounds repetitive, but the Lakers fell to 6-12 on the road, 0-11 when trailing after three quarters on the road. Indicative of their night was a remarkably poor sequence right before halftime. The Lakers (20-14) allowed a three-pointer by Russell Westbrook with 0.8 of a second left and a 15-footer by Kevin Durant after he stole an inbounds pass by Bynum. The Lakers trailed at halftime after that flurry, 46-43. They never led again. … Durant had 33 points for Oklahoma City (27-7), which improved to 15-1 at home. Westbrook had 19 points for the Thunder. Harden had 16. “We’ve got to work too hard to get points,” Bryant said. “I’m sure the coaches will talk about it over All-Star break, but we’ve got to make our jobs a little easier. We’re going against defenses that are sending double-teams all the time. We’ve got to have a little more movement — free Andrew up, free Pau [Gasol] up, free myself up so I don’t have to work against two guys all the time. “Oklahoma does a fantastic job over there. They do a great job of putting [Durant] in the right place so he doesn’t have to work too much.”… In the very fine print, the Lakers fell to 1-4 on the second night of back-to-back road games, another ominous stat in a shortened season with so many back-to-back sets… A lot has happened to the Lakers up to this point. Not much of it has been refreshing. “We’ve got a ways to go to get better,” Gasol said. The second half of the season awaits.”
The problems on the road for the Lakers are real, and it remains to be seen what management does with Pau Gasol. If he is traded, the team will have a drastically different look. Either way, the Lakers have some serious issues to address if they want to be taken seriously as contenders.
Elsewhere …
- Despite missing Joe Johnson for the second straight game, the Hawks defeated the Magic, 83-78, behind Josh Smith’s 22 points and 12 rebounds to snap a three-game skid. Atlanta seems to have Orlando’s number, winning last season’s playoff matchup as well as winning five straight regular season games dating to last season. Point guard Jameer Nelson missed the game with a strained left knee for the Magic, who had a loud players-only meeting after the game.
- Led by DeJuan Blair’s 28 points and 12 rebounds, the Spurs embarrassed the Nuggets on their home floor, 114-99, to end their rodeo road trip at a spiffy 8-1. Tony Parker had 16 points and 12 assists while Tim Duncan added 18 and nine rebounds as both players were well rested after sitting out the previous game. The Spurs have won 12 of their last 13 games, guided by Bernucca’s Coach of the Year. The Nuggets, dealing with a slew of injuries to key players, have fallen out of the playoff picture after losing 12 of 16.