For the first time since Linsanity was in full swing, Jeremy Lin ’10 stepped onto the court alongside the New York Knicks. This time, though, was a little different—Lin was wearing the red and white of the opponent’s uniform, rather than the familiar Knickerbocker blue and orange. Playing against New York instead of with it, Lin defeated his former team, 131-103, in his thirteenth game with the Houston Rockets.
Fittingly, it was none other than Lin himself who hit the first basket of the night for the Rockets. The score came on a driving layup with 10:48 remaining in the first quarter, tying up the game, 2-2.
The Harvard grad went on to tally 11 more points in 35 minutes of playing-time, shooting 50 percent on the night. Lin also notched seven rebounds, three dimes, and one steal, earning an efficiency rating of +24.
Coming into the matchup, Knicks players seemed more than hesitant to discuss the Lin-factor of Friday’s game with the media.
“I don’t really care about Jeremy’s situation,” Knicks guard J.R. Smith said. “He doesn’t wear the Knicks uniform anymore.”
New York superstar Carmelo Anthony, who made controversial statements regarding Lin in the offseason, echoed Smith’s opinion, putting into succinct terms his opinion on where Linsanity stands.
“It was crazy, and I was a part of it,” Anthony said. “But we’ve moved on.”
The loss was only the second for New York on the season, while the Rockets moved closer to a .500 record with the win. Lin was helped out by backcourt-mate James Harden, who amassed 33 points, and small forward Chandler Parsons, who totaled 31.
Despite his team’s success, Lin didn’t come out of the game completely unscathed. In the final moments of the second quarter, the guard cracked a front tooth while attempting to grab a loose ball. After the game, though, Lin seemed more than happy with the events of the night, chipped tooth and all.
“Today was a big step in the right direction in the way we want to play,” said Lin in his post-game interview. “The way we moved the ball on offense and spread the floor, that’s something that we want to build off of.”
-Staff writer Juliet Spies-Gans can be reached at jspiesgans@college.harvard.edu.
