Tyson Chandler greeted Jeremy Lin with not one, but two hard fouls. Lin kept coming. Raymond Felton tried his best to attack and put Lin on the defensive, but in the end the only damage Felton caused was to his own shooting percentage.
Even the crowd, which cheered Lin’s introduction, tried to unnerve him with boos. None of it worked. Madison Square Garden still brings out the best in the 24-year-old undrafted point guard out of Harvard and for the second time this season Lin and the Houston Rockets brought out the absolute worst in the Knicks.
PHOTOS: GARDEN STILL JEREMY’S LIN-TER WONDERLAND
“They played great,” Mike Woodson said, “and we played awful.”
Linsanity was back at MSG on Monday as the Rockets made a mockery of the Knicks’ defense by beating Woodson’s shorthanded and lethargic club, 109-96. The results were surprisingly similar to Lin’s breakout season last year with the Knicks. Lin was at the top his game, especially with neither Carmelo Anthony nor Amar’e Stoudemire playing.
“He had a good game, without a doubt,” Felton said. “I never talk junk about Jeremy. Everything I say about Jeremy, I feel like he deserves everything he got. He had a good game, plain and simple.”
Lin finished with 22 points and eight assists against his former mates. He did it with Garden chairman James Dolan, who decided not to match the three-year, $25 million contract offer Lin received, sitting in his usual baseline seat.
Dolan’s arms were folded when Rockets coach Kevin McHale removed Lin for good with 2:25 remaining and Houston leading by 16.
The Garden, which began to empty midway through the fourth quarter, mostly cheered Lin as he left the court while dropping the Knicks to 10-1 at the Garden. With Anthony sidelined a second straight game with a sprained left ankle and left knee, the Knicks fell to 18-6 overall. Stoudemire will practice with the team for the first time on Tuesday but will not be available for Wednesday’s home game against the Nets. Anthony is listed as day-to-day.
“They’re missing very key guys,” Lin said after Houston improved to 12-12. “I think right at the top of the list is (Iman Shumpert). He’s definitely a difference-maker, and obviously Carmelo and Amar’e didn’t play tonight. From that end, they’re definitely not their full team, and for us, we just try to make space, play fast and play quick and move the ball.”
Houston held a lead over the final three quarters, holding a 14-point halftime advantage and extending it 27 with nine minutes left. Houston’s quickness, especially in transition, exposed a fatal flaw in the Knicks lineup.
James Harden scored 28, giving Houston’s backcourt 50 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists compared to 19 points, seven rebounds and seven assists for Felton and Jason Kidd.
Houston, which held the Knicks to 11 second-quarter points, scored a total of 25 fast break points. The Rockets also beat the Knicks at their own game, making 10 3-pointers while the Knicks made 9 of 31.
“You want to compete whether you’ve got guys out or not,” Chandler said. “I honestly don’t like the way we showed up tonight to be honest with you.”
Chandler, who grabbed 18 rebounds, took matters into his own hands late in the first half when he stopped Lin’s baseline drive with a foul. It was ruled a flagrant and two minutes later Chandler interrupted another Lin drive with a hard foul.
“I didn’t think it was a flagrant foul,” Chandler said. “It was a hard foul … a foul that prevented him from making a layup. He walked to the free throw line.”
All of Lin’s points, including 16 in the first half, mattered. It was only his 16th career game at the Garden but he seems to have the magic touch here. Luckily for the Knicks, they won’t have to see him again until next year.
“I had fun out there,” Lin said. “I am still thankful for the fans and it was a lot better than I had thought.”
