The Fan Hub

Trailing by two against the Toronto Raptors with the ball in hand for the final possession, Mike D’Antoni didn’t hesitate. He told his new starting point guard, the man who has taken New York City by storm over the past week, that the game was his to win. So Jeremy Lin dribbled at the top of the key, waited for the clock to tick down, and calmly drilled the game-winning three pointer with half a second to go.

Just another chapter in the Legend of Lin.

What makes this latest episode so significant, aside from the fact that it was the first game-winner for the Taiwanese sensation, is who was also on the floor with him during the game. This was the first game for Amar’e Stoudemire since the death of his brother, and though he showed some rust after missing four games, he also exhibited some impressive chemistry with the team’s newest phenom. That shouldn’t be too surprising, given that Lin’s creativity and ball skills have drawn many comparisons to Stoudemire’s former point guard Steve Nash.

But what’s even more significant, if not surprising, is that even with Stoudemire back on the court, D’Antoni didn’t draw up a play for him in the final seconds. He simply told Lin to go ahead and do what comes naturally, which apparently meant drill a buzzer-beating three. It remains to be seen whether or not a similar tactic will be taken when Carmelo Anthony returns from his groin injury — or how well he and Lin will play together. Unlike Stoudemire, who needs a point guard to create for him, Anthony is a pure scorer who can beat defenders off the dribble and create his own shot. It should be very interesting to see how long it takes the three of them to gel together once Anthony returns, which could happen this weekend.

But until then, it remains Jeremy Lin’s world, and we’re all just living in it.

— Craig Lowell