Jeremy Lin’s performance against the New Jersey Nets earned him the starting spot in the following game, a matchup against the Utah Jazz, which was played once again on The Garden floor. Just as he did in the previous game, Lin made his presence felt early.
In the first five minutes of action, Lin recorded four points, two assists, and a steal, which led to a 10-5 Knicks lead. Lin and (roommate) Landry Fields continued to be a damaging duo to their opponent.
In fact, Lin was playing so well, he should’ve had an even better game than he did. As you can hear Mike Breen point out in the video, Lin’s passing was great early, but his big men struggled at first to finish around the rim.
One player who had no problem scoring off Lin’s passes was Steve Novak. An iconic Knick in his own right, the three-point specialist went off with 19 bench points. Five of Novak’s buckets were assisted by Lin, four of which came in the second quarter alone.
Multiple assists and and-1’s later, Lin led the Knicks to a comfortable lead in the fourth. They led by 10 with 4:29 left, but the Jazz closed in just moments later. With two minutes left and New York up by six, Iman Shumpert missed a layup and the ball was swatted out to the perimeter by Tyson Chandler. The ball landed right in Lin’s hands and he hoisted up a three-pointer to beat the shot clock. Splash.
Lin trotted backward to the other end of the floor, grinning and nodding at Chandler. He then stuck out that oddly charming blue tongue (Gatorade?) in celebration. Lin’s first career start was a success.
Final statline: 28 points, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 8.0 turnovers (TOV’s didn’t matter somehow, I guess, because “all he does is Lin, Lin, Lin, no matter what”)
Jeremy Lin</a> a household name, not just to <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/">New York Knicks</a> fans, but to the entire NBA, and basically, the entire planet. The California-born Taiwanese-American basketball player became an iconic sensation overnight, and it was those signature stylings that produced signature moments; Moments that together made up the perfectly described spectacle that was “Linsanity.”</p>
<p>It’s been roughly a decade and 7 months since Lin lit the basketball world on fire. During that magical <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/2020/05/01/new-york-knicks-jeremy-lin-what-really-happened-offer-sheet/">two-week span</a>, the 23-year-old point guard <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/l/linje01/gamelog/2012" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">averaged</a> 24.6 points and 9.2 assists in 10 games. During those 10 games, he started in nine of them and the Knicks went 8-2, including a 7-0 start. This was a run that revived New York’s season and helped them eventually reach the 2012 playoffs.</p>
<h2><strong>Remembering Jeremy Lin’s stint with the Knicks in 2011-12</strong></h2>
<p>A lot of time has passed, but the love has not been lost between Lin and Knicks fans. Perhaps the latest evidence of that was the online reaction to the trailer for <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSU2j8FJi_M%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">HBO’s documentary</a> “38 At The Garden,” which was announced earlier this summer. Knicks Twitter was ablaze with people both expressing their excitement for the project and what that time in Knicks history meant to them.</p>
<p>And, of course, many of the fond memories fans held dear were shared and discussed as a result of this discourse. In this article, I will be revisiting those moments and ranking them in anticipation of the documentary, which premiers on HBO and hits HBO Max on Tuesday, Oct. 11. Here are the five most memorable Linsanity moments.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #5 - Linsanity is Born </a>
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<h3>No. 5 – Linsanity is Born</h3>
<p><strong>Date: Feb. 4th, 2012 (New Jersey Nets @ Knicks)</strong></p>
<p>It was multiple injuries and desperation for a win that led head coach Mike D’Antoni to play Jeremy Lin major minutes on Feb. 4 against the Nets. Lin did not disappoint from the jump.</p>
<p>He made an instant impact when he entered the game for the first time at the start of the second quarter. It took only about three minutes for Lin to get his first three assists. A Landry Fields pull-up jumper on the baseline got Lin his first assist. On the other end, Lin stole the ball and quickly found Toney Douglas for a fast break layup. Then, he gifted a bounce pass to Jared Jeffries in the pick and roll, leading to a slam.</p>
<p>The pick and roll was certainly Lin’s bread and butter. His first basket came on a runner following a screen by Tyson Chandler. Chandler and Fields were the two Knicks Lin leaned on the most on offense, as they were the recipients of several passes going to the rim.</p>
<p>In the second quarter alone, Lin recorded “six points, four assists, three rebounds, one steal, and just one turnover,” as Mike Breen summarized. It “became the Jeremy Lin show” as Lin “ignited the team and the crowd.” Poetically, those final words by Breen wound up being an excellent way to describe what Lin continued to do in this contest, and in several more to come.</p>
<p>Later on, Lin hit a pull-up two-point shot at the top of the key to break a tie, putting New York up 74-72. That shot also tied Lin’s career high for points (15). He continued to dominate on offense in the fourth quarter, which included an and-1 layup with 2:03 left to effectively seal the win.</p>
<p>Final statline: 25 points, 7.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals, 1.0 turnover</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #4 - A dagger in Utah </a>
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<h3>No. 4 – A Dagger in Utah</h3>
<p><strong>Date: Feb. 6th, 2012 (Utah Jazz @ Knicks)</strong></p>
<p>Jeremy Lin’s performance against the New Jersey Nets earned him the starting spot in the following game, a matchup against the Utah Jazz, which was played once again on The Garden floor. Just as he did in the previous game, Lin made his presence felt early.</p>
<p>In the first five minutes of action, Lin recorded four points, two assists, and a steal, which led to a 10-5 Knicks lead. Lin and (roommate) Landry Fields continued to be a damaging duo to their opponent.</p>
<p>In fact, Lin was playing so well, he should’ve had an even better game than he did. As you can hear Mike Breen point out in the video, Lin’s passing was great early, but his big men struggled at first to finish around the rim.</p>
<p>One player who had no problem scoring off Lin’s passes was <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://dailyknicks.com/2022/07/30/look-back-best-knicks-legend-steve-novak/">Steve Novak</a>. An iconic Knick in his own right, the three-point specialist went off with 19 bench points. Five of Novak’s buckets were assisted by Lin, four of which came in the second quarter alone.</p>
<p>Multiple assists and and-1’s later, Lin led the Knicks to a comfortable lead in the fourth. They led by 10 with 4:29 left, but the Jazz closed in just moments later. With two minutes left and New York up by six, Iman Shumpert missed a layup and the ball was swatted out to the perimeter by Tyson Chandler. The ball landed right in Lin’s hands and he hoisted up a three-pointer to beat the shot clock. Splash.</p>
<p>Lin trotted backward to the other end of the floor, grinning and nodding at Chandler. He then stuck out that oddly charming blue tongue (Gatorade?) in celebration. Lin’s first career start was a success.</p>
<p>Final statline: 28 points, 8.0 assists, 2.0 steals, 8.0 turnovers (TOV’s didn’t matter somehow, I guess, because “all he does is Lin, Lin, Lin, no matter what”)</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #3 - Super Lintendo </a>
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<h3>#3 – Super Lintendo</h3>
<p><strong>Date: Feb. 19, 2012 (Dallas Mavericks @ Knicks)</strong></p>
<p>Coming off of their first loss (they were 7-0 before the loss) of the Linsanity era, the Knicks hosted the Dallas Mavericks for a nationally televised game. Some people viewed New York falling to the New Orleans Hornets two days earlier as a sign that Linsanity was over. However, Lin proved the doubters wrong with his next performance.</p>
<p>The Mavs deployed Shawn Marion against Lin, one of the best defensive players of the era. Surprisingly, Lin carved up Marion with his quickness. His first points came on a long pull-up two-point jumper, the space for which Lin created by using a ball fake and a jab step. On the following possession, Lin blew past Marion and reached Dirk Nowitzki beneath the rim to dish the ball to Amar’e Stoudemire. STAT slammed it home to tie up the game at 13 a piece.</p>
<p>Not only did Lin excel in this game with his typical lighting drives and finishes at the basket, but he had his best three-point shooting game of Linsanity. He was 3-for-6 from deep for the game. Speaking of which, he hit two huge long balls in the fourth quarter: One over the top of the outstretched arm of Nowitzki and the other off the dribble over Marion with 2:56 left to put New York up five.</p>
<p>Not big enough moments for you? Well, one of Lin’s five steals that night came as a result of some full court pressure. Lin swiped the passing lane and dunked the ball (leaping like Super Mario himself) to cut Dallas’ lead to three with 12 seconds left in the third. And to close the game, Lin double-teamed and stripped Nowitzki with about 25 seconds left in the game with the Knicks up five. Lin found Tyson Chandler up the court for a dunk to seal the game.</p>
<p>For at least one more night, the Jeremy Lin Show went on.</p>
<p>Final statline: 28 points, 14 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 5.0 steals</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #2 - 38 at the Garden </a>
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<h3>No. 2 – 38 At The Garden</h3>
<p><strong>Date: Feb. 10th, 2012 (Los Angles Lakers @ Knicks)</strong></p>
<p>No Amar’e Stoudemire. No Carmelo Anthony. It was like that for most of Linsanity, but this game it became especially obvious.</p><div class="widget fs_ads"> <div class="fs_ad_widget-ad" style="margin:0 auto; width: 300px;"> <div class="fs-ll-ad" data-ad-type="minutemedia_slideshow_inline_300x250__desktop__tablet" data-vendor="minutemedia">
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<p>The Los Angeles Lakers were in town, a franchise and a roster that was among the best of the best in the NBA. A big reason for that was of course the presence of the late great Kobe Bryant. Going into this game, Bryant was asked about the young point guard that was the talk of the sports world. He had nothing to say because he wasn’t very familiar with the topic in question.</p>
<p>“Who is this kid?” Kobe asked. “I’ve heard about him, but what’s he doing?” Recently, Lin was asked what he thought <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://clutchpoints.com/jeremy-lin-describes-disrespected-mindset-of-facing-kobe-bryant-ahead-of-iconic-msg-performance/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">about Bryant’s comments</a> prior to that faithful game.</p>
<blockquote class="left ampstart-left">“I was already in the zone and had three good games, and I grew up being a Warriors fan in the Bay Area, so we did not like the Lakers and did not like Kobe,” Lin recalled. “And then he extra-gassed me by what he said before the game. I felt slighted and disrespected, and all those things put me in a place of, I’m going for it tonight.”</p>
<p></blockquote>
<p>The rest was history. There is a reason HBO is calling the documentary “38 At The Garden.” Enough said, right? Well, he also tallied seven assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Oh, and he hit clutch shots again, including an acrobatic reverse layup around Pau Gasol and a pair of free throws all within the final three minutes. The win was the Knicks’ fourth straight.</p>
<p>Final statline: 38 points, 7.0 assists, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 steals</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #007BC1" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> #1 - A Linsane final 2 minutes </a>
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<h3>No. 1 – A Linsane Final 2 Minutes</h3>
<p><strong>Date: Feb. 14, 2022 (Knicks @ Toronto Raptors)</strong></p>
<p>I get it if you think Jeremy Lin dropping 38 at The Garden was better than this, more power to you. You can’t go wrong when choosing between these final two moments. But this I think was undoubtedly the <em>most memorable.</em> That game-winner is the defining moment of Linsanity to me. Not to mention it allowed for the Knicks to win their sixth-straight game.</p>
<p>I mean, the <a href=https://dailyknicks.com/2022/10/10/5-memorable-jeremy-lin-linsanity-knicks/3/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeIHnmwhRqU%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">last two minutes</a> alone are just so cold. It was truly Linsane.</p>
<p>Part of what made this game as a whole so special was the fact that the Knicks trailed throughout. For most of it, New York was down by double digits, but that didn’t faze Lin. He looked as good as ever during the entirety of his 43:10 of playing time, but I will remind you again that it was the end of this game that stands as the quintessential moment from Lin’s amazing stretch with the Knicks.</p>
<p>Lin got some help from his friends during those two minutes. Down five, Iman Shumpert had a huge steal and rewarded himself with a clean lane to the basket. Shump flushed the fast break dunk all alone to make it 87-84. With the Knicks back on defense, Tyson Chandler blocked DeMar DeRozan in the paint and the ball found its way to Lin. Lin pushed up the floor, had a quick back and forth with Shumpert on the perimeter that led to a Lin pump fake three.</p>
<p>Having fooled the defender into jumping, Lin took the ball to the rack and drew contact. His leaning layup seemingly caused the ball to go straight up in the air, where it barely made it a few inches above the rim and fell in. And-1. Lin made the free-throw to tie the game at 87 all.</p>
<p>Toronto called a timeout. With the ball in the hands of the home team, the Knicks needed another stop, and they got it. Chandler had another block, this time out on the perimeter, and New York secured the ball. After several passes, Shumpert got a wide open look on the baseline. He pulled up and missed the bank shot. Thankfully, Chandler grabbed the board and got the ball to Lin. With the shot clock reset and 19 seconds left in the game, Lin had the ball at the center court logo.</p>
<p>He stood there, waving his arm at his coach and at his teammates trying to get them ready for what was coming next. He knew what was next, he wanted it. He didn’t put the ball on the floor for about 13 seconds. He slowly creeped towards the three-point line, taking four steps forward and crossing the ball over three times. Then he shot <em>it</em>.</p>
<p>Final Val-Lin-tine’s Day statline: 27 points, 11 assists</p>
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