Miami clamps lid on Lin
Eighth straight win for James & Co.
MIAMI — Jeremy Lin offered no excuses. He and the Knicks had no answers.
Lin’s rapid rise from unknown to superstar was slowed bigtime Thursday night by the Miami Heat, who overwhelmed the NBA’S hottest story with a swarming defence that the Knicks’ new starting point guard could not solve.
Forcing Lin into easily the worst game of his remarkable run as New York’s newest star, Miami topped the Knicks 10288 — the eighth straight win for the Nba-leading Heat, all by at least 12 points.
Chris Bosh scored 25 points, Dwyane Wade added 22 and Lebron James finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and eight assists for Miami, which will go into the all-star break with the NBA’S best record (27-7).
Lin’s final line: 1 for 11 from the field, eight points, three assists — a long way from the 23.9 points and 9.2 assists he had been averaging over his first 11 games in the Knicks’ rotation, when he breathed immeasurable life into a team that was floundering.
“First of all, he deserves all of the credit he’s been given,” Wade said. “We knew it was going to be a tough task guarding him. ... He’s a good player, but we put a lot of pressure on him and it was a success.”
Lin turned the ball over eight times, saying afterward that the Heat defence made it difficult even to dribble. His last shot, like most of his others, bounced off the rim with six seconds left, the outcome already decided, and he simply walked quietly off the court into the locker room.
“A learning experience,” Lin said. “A tough one.”
But for a while, the game lived up to the hype.
Spike Lee, Floyd Mayweather and Chad Ochocinco all sat within seven seats of each other on one sideline, Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison of the Miami Marlins were on another sideline, and members of the New York Mets’ front office reportedly jumped aboard a helicopter for the quick trip from the team’s spring-training home in Port St. Lucie down to Miami.