Nets-Knicks Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 20 2012 12:14AM

Any questions on whether Carmelo Anthony can work together with emerging star Jeremy Lin will likely be answered soon for the New York Knicks.

Anthony is expected to end his seven-game absence due to injury Monday night when they Knicks host the struggling New Jersey Nets.

Lin's sudden and unexpected rise to prominence has come while a strained right groin has sidelined Anthony, the Knicks' All-Star forward and leading scorer. The point guard and former Harvard standout added a new chapter to his story Sunday with 28 points and a career-high 14 assists in a 105-97 victory over reigning NBA champion Dallas, which had previously won a season-high six in a row.

Lin bounced back after committing nine turnovers during an 89-85 loss to New Orleans on Friday.

"(The win over Dallas) is helpful to us, not just to me but to us, just to be able to see where our team can go and what we can become, and I think that's the biggest takeaway from (Sunday)," Lin said.

J.R. Smith, whom New York signed Friday, scored 13 points in his debut as the Knicks (16-16) earned their eighth victory in nine games.

New York is also expected to get point guard Baron Davis back from a herniated disk in his back within the next week, but Anthony's return could also have an impact on the surging team's newfound chemistry.

"Everybody has to adjust to everybody. It may not be perfect the first week but the potential is there," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "It's our job as coaches and their job as players to maximize that potential.

"As long as everybody buys in ... it's going to be fun."

Anthony was in the lineup for Lin's first career start Feb. 6 against Utah, but he played less than six minutes due to his injury. Anthony was averaging 22.3 points before straining his groin, and Lin has averaged 25.0 since Feb. 4, when he scored 25 off the bench in a 99-92 victory over New Jersey. Lin has started all eight games since.

This time, the Knicks will face a Nets team that just got one of its key players back on the court. Center Brook Lopez's season debut wasn't enough to help New Jersey avoid a 92-85 home loss to Milwaukee on Sunday.

Lopez, who sat out the season's first 32 games with a broken right foot after missing none in his first three seasons, had nine points and two rebounds in less than 22 minutes. He averaged 27.0 points last season against the Knicks - his second-best mark against an Eastern Conference foe - and totaled 62 in his two visits to Madison Square Garden

"It felt good," Lopez said of his performance Sunday. "My arch was a little sore, but I think that was just the orthotic. It was just exciting to be out there playing with the guys."

Deron Williams had a team-best 26 points in the loss to the Bucks, his fifth straight game scoring 25 or more. He increased his season average to a career-best 21.7.

While they got Lopez back, the Nets (9-24) learned Jordan Farmar will likely be out until after the All-Star break because of a groin injury. The backup point guard is averaging a career-high 10.5 points this season.

Farmar's absence could make snapping a five-game skid to New York that much tougher. The Knicks have averaged 110.2 points during that streak.

If it can continue its dominance of the Nets, New York would move above .500 for the first time since it was 6-5 on Jan. 12.

Williams has 38, Nets handle Linsanity this time

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Feb 21 2012 12:19AM

NEW YORK (AP) Deron Williams takes full responsibility for Linsanity.

"This all started on me," the New Jersey Nets star said.

He was ready Monday night when he got another shot at the kid from Harvard.

Williams scored a season-high 38 points, outplaying Lin and leading the Nets to a 100-92 victory over the New York Knicks in a game the All-Star guard said was circled on his calendar.

Lin began his remarkable run against New Jersey, but Williams and the Nets were geared up this time for him and Carmelo Anthony, who returned to the Knicks lineup after missing seven games with a strained right groin.

"I don't really watch too many games, but I do see Twitter, people tweet me and every, you know, three lines it was `Jeremy Lin destroyed Deron Williams,"' Williams said. "So I definitely took offense to that in the first game and definitely, like I said, I had it circled."

Lin finished with 21 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, but Williams outscored him 36-11 through three quarters, when the Nets led by 18. Lin shot only 7 of 18 and the Knicks lost for the second time in 10 games since his emergence against the Nets on Feb. 4.

"I think me in particular didn't come with the defensive energy we needed. Obviously, Deron Williams going for 30-whatever he had is not going to get it done," Lin said. "So I needed to come out with more energy, the team needed to come out with more energy and I think at the end of the day, I think that's why the team lost."

Anthony, clearly rusty, shot 4 of 11 and scored 11 points.

"My mindset was not try to come in and do too much. Try to fit in. Try to play my game within the system the way that they've been playing the last couple weeks," Anthony said.

"Passing the ball, find the open man, making the right play. I felt good with that. It was just one of those games where I had to come out and get the rust off of me a little bit and get ready for Atlanta (on Wednesday)."

Williams scored 18 in the third quarter, including 12 straight Nets points during one surge. Clearly amped up for the rematch - maybe too much so, because he fouled out with 3:07 left - he skipped across the court with three fingers in the air after burying a second straight 3-pointer during his blistering stretch.

MarShon Brooks had 18 points as the Nets, playing their third game in three nights, surprised a crowd looking for a repeat of their last trip across the Hudson River.

New Jersey shut down a Knicks offense that rang up 104 points against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks on Sunday, when Lin had 28 points and a career-best 14 assists.

But Williams was locked in this time, and the U.S. Olympian could've gone for plenty more if not for spending most of the fourth quarter on the bench in foul trouble. But by then he had the Nets too far ahead for the Knicks to catch.

Williams, who shot 7 of 19 in the first meeting, made eight 3-pointers and was 10 of 22 overall on Monday.

"I don't think Deron Williams needs much of a prod," Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni said. "That's one of the best guards in the league. Jeremy still got 21 and nine. He had a great game, good game. Deron had a great game and that'll be that way sometimes. Again, I'm not big on the matchups just because it's a team thing and as a team we just didn't perform very well."

The Knicks (16-17) had their five-game winning streak against the Nets snapped and failed again to move back over .500.

Baron Davis had three points in 9 minutes in his Knicks debut after overcoming a herniated disk in his back. Expected to be the starter whenever he became available, he'll be Backup Baron as long as Lin keeps it up.

The Knicks were 8-15, coming off losses on consecutive nights, and had already fallen into a double-digit hole against the Nets on Feb. 4 when Lin got his chance, coming off the bench for 25 points in a 99-92 victory.

So uncertain of his NBA future at the time that he refused to get his own place to live, Lin slept on teammate Landry Fields' couch the night before that game.

The days of sleeping on couches and riding the benches are long gone.

Lin had since averaged 25 points and 9.2 assists, the most remarkable story in the NBA this season. And even the Nets have been impressed.

"I think it's an amazing story," Williams said. "He was going to get cut the next day and then (to) come out and play the way he did against us and just keep it going the way he has. Even tonight he had a great game, and it was going to get overshadowed because of mine. He's playing great basketball. It's definitely a tremendous story."

Anthony could tell Williams was ready, and the point guard was in constant motion with or without the ball, powering his way to the basket on drives or hitting from well beyond the 3-point arc - once while being fouled by Lin for a four-point play.

It was a learning experience for Lin, anonymous last month but a marked man in the league now.

Knicks ratings have surged - Sunday's victory earned ABC's third-highest overnight rating ever for a non-Christmas broadcast - and celebrities are packing Madison Square Garden again. New parents Jay-Z, a part-owner of the Nets, and Beyonce were in the crowd for this one.

Lin graced the cover of Sports Illustrated and was the subject of a sketch on "Saturday Night Live" and there's no telling how far his celebrity will rise. The online sports book bovada.lv even is giving 5 to 1 odds he'll go on a date before the NBA finals are over with Kim Kardashian, split from Nets forward Kris Humphries.

Humphries, booed as usual since their brief marriage, had 14 points and 14 rebounds, and drew technicals on the Knicks when Anthony tried to trip him and when Tyson Chandler followed him to the bench jawing during a timeout.

"They're winning games. It was our goal to come in here and put an end to all that in terms of them versus us. We were able to do that," Humphries said. "We got on top of them. We played unbelievable. We had a great effort from a lot of guys."

The only question left for Lin was what he would do with Anthony, who was hurt 6 minutes into Lin's starting debut two nights after that Nets game. Both players scoffed at the idea that Anthony would mess it up, and Anthony has even said he went to D'Antoni and told him to give Lin more minutes - though the coach had no recollection of it.

Anthony's first basket came off a connection with Lin, setting a pick and popping out for a jumper. But the Knicks' offense went stagnant in the second quarter, and Williams took over the game in the third.

Notes: Knicks rookie Iman Shumpert sat out with a left knee injury and will be re-evaluated after the All-Star break. ... Nets C Brook Lopez, who just returned Sunday after breaking his foot in the preseason, sat out as part of the plan to not play him yet on back-to-back nights. ... The Knicks honored former coach Joe Lapchick, and players Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton and John Rucker as part of their "Pioneer Night: A Celebration In Black History." Clifton was the first African-American to play for the Knicks, though Rucker preceded him by two weeks in training camp in 1950, becoming the first African-American to wear the team's uniform.

Notebook: Nets 100, Knicks 92

Posted Monday February 20, 2012 11:34PM

By Joshua Newman, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Given the fact Jeremy Lin first came to prominence at the expense of Deron Williams back on Feb. 4, it makes sense that it was Williams calming Linsanity down on Monday evening.

The Nets point guard went off for 18 of his game-high 38 points in the third quarter to lead the Nets to a 100-92 victory over the Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Williams led four Nets in double-figures as MarShon Brooks had 18, Kris Humphries 14 and DeShawn Stevenson 11.

The Knicks, who welcomed Carmelo Anthony back to the lineup after he missed the last seven games with a pulled groin, have now lost two out of three after Lin led them to seven straight victories from Feb. 4 to Feb. 15.

In his first game back, Anthony seemed to press at times in finishing with just 11 points on 4-for-11 shooting from the field.

QUOTABLE: "Deron Williams is really good. You have to give him credit because he is one of the best players in the league."
-- Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni.

THE STAT: Thanks to a combination of Lin, Amar'e Stoudemire and Anthony, the Knicks raced out to a 13-3 lead less than five minutes into the game. The Nets were able to get back in the game thanks to some hot 3-point shooting. In the first quarter alone, they shot 4-for-6 from beyond the arc. The hot shooting started there and never stopped as the Nets went 9-for-16 from deep in the first half and 15-for-31 for the game.

TURNING POINT: Now that we are 10 games into Linsanity, teams are beginning to get more accurate and detailed scouting reports on Lin. He likes to try and get into the lane to make a play and the Nets did a good job of closing off the paint to Lin and anyone else who dared enter. After a first quarter that saw the Knicks shoot 11-for-23, the Nets clamped down, holding their opponent to 7-for-23 in the second quarter. Throughout the first half, the Knicks were settling for jumpers while abandoning the drive and it changed the complexion of the game the rest of the way.

QUOTABLE II: "We have to get some things sorted out and we know that. We have to figure out what type of team we are the identity we have to have."
-- D'Antoni on the fact the Knicks incorporated new pieces tonight with Anthony and Baron Davis both coming off injury. Davis made his season-debut on Monday.

HOT: Whether or not Williams felt there was a point to be made given the perception that he unintentionally started Linsanity 16 days ago, Williams made definitely made a point. At one juncture of the third quarter with the Nets leading 69-59, Williams hit a 3-pointer with J.R. Smith's hand in his face and followed that by pulling up for another 3-pointer in transition the next time down. The transition trey extended the Nets' lead to 75-59 with 2:48 to go in the third.

NOT: With Bill Walker (elbow) and Iman Shumpert (patella tendinitis) both unavailable on Monday, the Knicks bench depth and production both took a dip. Steve Novak, Baron Davis, Jared Jeffries and Smith combined to score just 19 points on 7-for-24 shooting from the field. Novak alone was 3-for-10 and 2-for-8 beyond the arc.

INSIDE THE ARENA: Knicks legend Earl 'The Pearl' Monroe, actor/comedian Robert Klein and New York Giants outside linebacker Michael Boley all watched the game courtside.

ROOKIE WATCH: Since returning from a broken right little toe on Feb. 10, Brooks has been streaky, yet effective. That trend continued against the Knicks on Monday evening when the former Providence College star scored 18 points and shot 7-for-15 from the floor. The 18 points was his fifth straight game in double-figures.

NOTABLE: Former Knicks center, head coach and current assistant head coach Herb Williams was awarded the 4th Annual Dick McGuire Legacy Award during a second quarter timeout. Named after the Knicks all-time great, the award is given by the team for those who it says epitomizes what it means to be a Knickerbocker: Pride, Tradition and Class.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Wednesday vs. Hawks, Thursday @ Heat, Feb. 29 vs. Cavaliers. For the Nets, Wednesday vs. Magic, Feb. 28 @ Mavericks, March 2 @ Celtics.

• Nets: James, Lopez, Williams
• Knicks: Harrellson, Shumpert, Walker

• Nets: --
• Knicks: Anthony, Chandler

• Lead Changes: 3
• Times Tied: 2

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #41 Ken Mauer, #35 Kane Fitzgerald, #66 Haywoode Workman
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:28