Lakers vs. Knicks in New York

LIN DROPS 38 ON THE LAKERS AS THE KNICKS WIN THE GAME 92-87

1st Half:

Jeremy Lin started out hot by outscoring the Lakers by himself 10-6 with 5:25 left in the 1st quarter.

With 2:31 left in the 1st quarter, both the Knicks and the Lakers have taken six 3-point shots. The Lakers converted one, while the Knicks have drained two. The Knicks lead 19-11. To the New York fan's dismay, Mike Bibby has replaced Jeremy Lin at this point in the game.

It has been reported that Kobe Bryant didn't know what Jeremy Lin has done over the past week or so. Well, with Lin's 10 points in the 1st quarter, I wonder if he, now, has Kobe's attention.

Knicks jump out to a 22-15 lead over the Lakers at the end of the 1st quarter. Just think: without Lin's 10 points, the Lakers would be leading after one 15-12. lol! That's a joke!

In the 2nd quarter the Knicks score 6 unanswered points to extend their lead to 28-15. At this point in the game, Steve Blake is 0-4 and 0-3 in 3-pointers.

I'm thinking that with the return of Steve Blake, there seems to some type of pecking order for shooting. Blakes is getting his shots, while Goudelock is reduced to taking one shot. The return of Blakes has set Goudelock back as far as Goudelock being aggressive with the ball. So far Blake's shooting doesn't justify the pecking order.

With 7:40 left in the 2nd quarter the Lakers have made 7 of 25 shots. It could be a long night.

Finally, G-Lock let's a 3-pointer go and he hits it to cut the Knicks lead to 9 points: 33-24. But, the pesky Lin is back in the game and he coverts a 3-point play the old fashion way. Then Lin gets to the free throw line and hits 1 of 2. So, Lin scores 4 points in about a minute of time after G-Lock hit his 3-pointer. That gave the Knicks a 37-24 lead with 6:29 left in the 2nd quarter.

At the end of the 2nd quarter the Knicks lead 49-41.

1st half shooting for the Lakers' starters:

Kobe: 1-6
Fisher: 1-5
BynumL: 1-5
Gasol: 4-7
World Peace: 0-1

Others:

Blake: 1-5
Murphy: 1-2
Goudelock: 1-3
Barns: 3-4

OUCH! And the Lakers are only down by 8 points at the half? The game of basketball, very interesting , indeed!

Kobe hasn't been following what Lin has been doing, or so it was reported that way:

Jeremy Lin: What have I done!

Kobe: I don't know!

Lin: How about 18 points and 5 assist in the 1st half against your team?

Kobe: Don't look at me. Look at Fisher!
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2nd half prediction: The Lakers will come back to win this game.

2nd Half:

The Lakers outscored the Knicks by 2 points in the 3rd quarter: 19-17. Jeremy Lin scored 9 points in the quarter to push his total to 27 for the night.

With 42 seconds left in the 3rd quarter, Jeremy Lin is replaced in the line-up by Mike Bibby. Now, maybe the Lakers can do something about cutting into the Knick's lead. After 3 quarters of play, the Knicks led the Lakers 66-60.

The Lakers start the 4th quarter by outscoring the Knicks 7-4 to cut the Knicks lead to 3 points.

But, with 9:26 left in the game the Knicks bring Jeremy Lin and Tyson Chandler back into the game, and they go on a 6-0 run to push their lead to 9 points, and causing the Lakers to call a time-out! So, in a minute and a half Jeremy Lin and Knicks scored 6 unanswered points.

Without Jeremy Lin the Lakers were making a comeback; when Lin returned, he put the game out of reach with his excellent play.

Lin: Kobe, you don't know my name?

Kobe: I know your name, it's Fisher who doesn't know your game.

Lin scores, again, to push his game total to 36 points.

With 1:44 left in the game the Lakers are down by six, 88-82. But Lin and the Knicks hold on to beat the Lakers 92-85. Lin finishes with 38 points.
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AFTER GAME THOUGHTS:

LAKERS:

Call it what you want, but Bynum, Fisher, and World Peace went 3-17 shooting between them. Three starters only making 3 shots between them? 'Nuff said!

KNICKS:

What's going to be interesting for the Knicks is this: When Anthony and Stoudemire come back to the line-up, what is going to happen to Lin? lol!

It's clear that without the ball in his hands, Lin will become mortal, once again. And the ball will not be in his hands as often because Anthony demands the ball too much. On the other hand, if Lin continues to control the ball, that would free up Stoudemire to get his game back. Stoudemire on those pick-and-rolls to the hoop off of Lin passes? Only Anthony's ego will prevent that from happening.

More than anything, basketball is all about in-house politics. And in the Knick's in-house political structure, Anthony needs to have the ball. And if that is the case, Lin will fade. Either that or Anthony will have to come down on his numbers to allow Lin to flourish as he has been when the ball is in his hands.

This is going to be interesting!

As for my:

"2nd half prediction: The Lakers will come back to win this game."

If it wasn't for Lin, I would have been right! lol!

mike t.