Sports

‘Linsanity!’: Tebow-Like NBA Sensation Jeremy Lin Wows Again With Incredible Buzzer-Beater

TORONTO (The Blaze/AP) — Even after his amazing week, this one took Linsanity to a whole new level. Against Toronto on Tuesday, it was Lin for the win!

Knicks sensation Jeremy Lin made a tiebreaking 3-pointer with less than a second to play to cap his finishing flurry of six straight points and New York rallied to beat the Raptors 90-87, extending its winning streak to six games.

“I’m just glad it went like this so we can calm the Linsanity down,” cracked Knicks coach Mike D’Antoni.

No chance of that. The NBA’s first American-Taiwanese player, Lin scored 27 points and added a career-high 11 assists in his first game since being named Eastern Conference player of the week.

“He continues to impress every night,” New York’s Jared Jeffries said. “Every game he plays better, he does more and more to help us win basketball games. You can’t ask any more of a kid coming into this situation.”

Jeffries isn’t the only one that thinks so. Fellow NBA player Shane Battier managed to fit a Tim Tebow and Chuck Norris reference into a Tweet:

Jeremy Lin Hits Game Winning Shot for Knicks Against Raptors

And ESPN Los Angeles reporter Dave McMenamin chronicled reaction from the Los Angeles Lakers:

Jeremy Lin Hits Game Winning Shot for Knicks Against Raptors

While he’s the one standing in the spotlight, Lin said sharing success with his teammates is as big a reward.

“It’s not because of me, it‘s because we’re coming together as a team,” Lin said. “We started making these steps earlier but we were still losing close games and so obviously it wasn’t fun. But when you win, that solves a lot of problems. We‘ve been winning and we’ve been playing together.”

Making just his fifth career start, Lin had no hesitation in taking the decisive shot.

“I’m thankful that the coach and my teammates trust me with the ball at the end of the game,” he said. “I like having it at the end of the game. I’m just very thankful.”

The season-high crowd of 20,092 roared as Lin shot over Jose Calderon and drained a pull-up jumper from the top with half a second to play, giving the Knicks their first lead since the opening quarter.

D‘Antoni declined to call timeout before Lin’s winning shot, saying it would only give the Raptors time to draw up their defense. Even so, D’Antoni was impressed with the calm and confidence Lin showed in letting the clock run down.

“You just watch and you’re in awe,” D’Antoni said. “He held it until five tenths of a second left. He was pretty confident that was going in, no rebounds, no nothing. That ball was being buried.”

Toronto’s Rasual Butler airballed his attempt at the buzzer as the Knicks swarmed their newest hero at center court.

So just who is Jeremy Lin? PBS recently took a look at the new sensation who’s drawing comparisons to Tim Tebow:

 

“The kid made a great shot,” Raptors coach Dwane Casey said. “(Calderon) had to give him space or he was going to give up a driving path and (Lin) made a tough shot.”

But Casey was left steamed at his team’s failure to hold a lead, especially after the Raptors made nine turnovers in the final quarter.

“It should not have come to (Lin’s) play,” Casey said. “We had some many boneheaded plays to get to that play and to make that play relevant. We should have taken care of business before that.”

Amare Stoudemire returned from a four-game absence with 21 points and Tyson Chandler had 13 for New York.

Calderon scored 25 points, Linas Kleiza had 15 points and 11 rebounds, and DeMar DeRozan scored 14 for the Raptors.

Up 75-66 to start the fourth, Toronto widened its lead with a three-point play by Barbosa before the Knicks stormed back with a 10-0 run, cutting it to 78-76 and forcing the Raptors to call timeout with 6:22 remaining.

Kleiza stopped the run with a driving layup, Amir Johnson added a hook shot and, after Lin made one of two from the line, Barbosa’s layup made it 84-77 with 4:49 to go.

Toronto led 87-82 with less than two minutes to go when Iman Shumpert stole the ball from Calderon and drove in for an uncontested dunk. After a missed shot, Lin completed a three-point play, tying it at 87 with 1:05 left.

Barbosa missed a 3 for Toronto and, at the other end, Shumpert missed a jumper but Chandler grabbed the rebound. Lin took the ball near midcourt and let the clock run down to 5 seconds before driving and pulling up against Calderon to launch the decisive shot, touching off the latest instance of Linsanity.

“(Calderon) was trying to push me left,” Lin said. “He was giving me a little bit of space. I just tried to take it down as low as I could. I figured it’s probably not going to be possible to get to the basket with the help that they had.”

Calderon was surprised to see Lin pull up for the game-winner.

“I thought he was going to drive,” Calderon said. “That’s why I tried to give him his left hand but he made a great shot.”

Calderon was held scoreless in the final quarter, with D’Antoni crediting Shumpert for keeping the Toronto guard in check.

“He did a great job,” D’Antoni said. “Shump got on Calderon and changed up everything.”

The Raptors had a photo of Lin on their team website in the hours before the game, and his visit generated major interest among Toronto’s Asian community, estimated at over 280,000 people, or more than 11 percent of the local population. The Chinese Canadian Youth Athletics Association and the Taiwanese Canadian Association of Toronto both sent groups of almost 300 fans as Toronto sold out for the second time in 13 home games. One group of fans in the upper deck wore white T-shirts spelling out his name.

Not all the fans were so positive: Lin was booed several times throughout the game.

Local media also took note; some 75 reporters and 16 cameras packed a Tuesday morning press conference to hear Lin speak, with dozens more turned away to prevent overcrowding. More than 25 Chinese Canadian journalists were due to cover the game, including one who presented Lin with a book of “Year of the Dragon” stamps from Canada Post and asked him to record a message in Mandarin, which he did.

Even D’Antoni was shocked by the size of the throng upon walking in Tuesday morning for his turn at the microphone.

“Are we in the playoffs now?” D’Antoni joked as he made his way to the front of the room.

It was Calderon, coming off a career-high 30 points in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, who was hot early, scoring 12 points in the first as the Raptors led 28-21 after one. Lin missed his first shot and didn’t score until a driving layup with 3:46 left in the first. He had four points and four assists in the opening quarter.

Lin turned the ball over on three straight possessions early in the second and Toronto took advantage with a 6-0 run, widening its lead to 13 points. He also missed a running bank shot as the half ended as the Raptors took a 47-36 lead into the break.

Stoudemire scored seven points and Lin had six points and four assists as the Knicks scored 30 points in the third, but still trailed 75-66 heading into the fourth.

Comments (27)

  • cowgirl
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 6:14pm

    please, for the love of God, someone stop him! the other players aren’t able to have their fair share of points. Obummer will be sooo upset.

    Report Post » cowgirl  
  • Ghandi was a Republican
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 2:14pm

    They said Dirk Nowitzki didn’t have it either. Dirk destroyed the 4 superstars of the miami heat — WITH A BROKEN FINGER, AND with the FLU last year to take the championship.

    Report Post » Ghandi was a Republican  
  • Chicken-MCNUGGETS-NUGGETS
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 1:50pm

    Mayweather said that ” the only reason people like this guy, is because of his race. His skills on the court aren’t even that good.” Really Floyd? Well, how is that any different than the entire black race just LOVIN Obama, just because of his race? Cause Lord knows he’s a crappy President… ( And before you ask, yes, I am black )

    Report Post » Chicken-MCNUGGETS-NUGGETS  
  • RAMJR
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 1:43pm

    Jeremy Lin has shared his Christian faith many times. It isn’t well known, because he was not considered a sports-star, whatever that is. His Twitter account description is, “to know Him is to want to know Him more.” His Facebook page quotes Colossians 3:23, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.”
    Fans are snapping up his jersey, TV ratings of Knicks games have skyrocketed, and shares of the team reached an all-time high on Monday. Lin’s response? “I’m just thankful to God for everything. Like the Bible says, ‘God works in all things for the good of those who love him.’”
    (VIdeo of thanking Jesus Christ) http://gnli.christianpost.com/video/jeremy-lin-thanks-his-lord-and-savior-jesus-christ-1045

    Report Post »  
  • kalayaan
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 1:14pm

    God bless Jeremy Lin and the Knicks!!!…just like Tim Tebow, God is making Jeremy Lin shine!!!!

    Report Post »  
    • Cesium
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 4:39pm

      god’s not making starving kids with cancer and parasites around the world shine

      Report Post »  
  • PATRIOTMAMA
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 1:12pm

    You know, why is it such a shock when someone that people admire and think are great at what they do are Christian? Honestly is it so hard to believe that we are regular people too? It‘s like they can’t get over how unusual it is that he is Christian and really really talented. Got news for you, God blesses and keeps those that belong to Him. Shouldn’t be such as shock. It‘s like they think it’s incredible that we infultrated their group. Laughable really. Ya we’re coming for you next!!!! OOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! Spooky!!! Ya we wouldn’t want you to become kinder to your fellow man and practice things like being good to your neighbors or anything. All too shocking!!!!

    Report Post »  
  • georgeisn6
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 12:21pm

    We have got to have a law, that states that only blacks have the right to make game winning plays at the end of the fourth quarter of games. Or blacks the world over will all be shouting “RACISM”at the top of their lungs.

    Report Post »  
  • KAdams
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 10:10am

    So. Exactly how is Jeremy Lin compared to Tim Tebow? I don’t see it, other than both having a Christian faith. Is Lin as expressive in his faith as Tebow? I only have this reporters’ claim of a strong faith, are there any others?

    Report Post »  
    • LookTowardsTheLight
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 12:10pm

      So somebody has to “Tebow” in public to prove to you his or her faith? So I guess you are saying he is less of a Christian because he’s not as public with his faith vis a vis Tim Tebow?

      Report Post » LookTowardsTheLight  
    • adeleeeee
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 10:59pm

      He is big in Taiwan now because his parents are Taiwanese. He came to Taiwan last year and share his faith in Christian station in Taiwan. I am not so sure how much he share his faith in States.

      Report Post » adeleeeee  
  • dirtypolitics
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 9:45am

    Another great game for the God fearing, God loving Lin.

    Guess who are getting uneasy about his success?

    Report Post »  
  • ShyMan
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:54am

    I’m pulling for him no doubt.

    But pulling for the knickerbockers to win is very difficult especially with that twerp spike lee in the stands.

    Report Post » ShyMan  
  • am123
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:35am

    Jeremy Lin lead his high school team to the state championship in California, but no scholarships came his way. He was a star at Harvard, but no one picked him in the NBA draft. This preseason, he was cut by two different teams. The Knicks picked him up, but were planning on cutting him as he didn’t have a guaranteed contract. Jeremy Lin’s favorite Bible verses are:

    “And not only that, but we also glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulation produces perseverance; and perseverance, character; and character, hope. Now hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us.”
    —ROMANS 3:5

    So just as the Knicks were on the verge of cutting him, what has transpired this past week and a half is the result of something called grace—the favor of God. Lin persevered in obscurity and kept his faith, and the Holy Spirit orchestrated events in his favor and opened up a way for him, an open door that no one can close on him. The Knicks were literally days away from cutting him, but he came off the bench a week and a half ago and stunned the sports world with his outburst of phenomenal play. It has played out like a Hollywood script. The world is witnessing something very special in this humble young man of faith, Jeremy Lin—God’s grace in action.

    Report Post » am123  
    • rangerp
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:40am

      Look out, Bill Mahr and the rest of the libs will start gong after him, just like tebow.

      Report Post » rangerp  
    • am123
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:49am

      Good, let them. They will exposed for the fools that they are.

      Report Post » am123  
    • LookTowardsTheLight
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 9:17am

      “Jeremy Lin lead his high school team to the state championship in California, but no scholarships came his way. He was a star at Harvard, but no one picked him in the NBA draft.”

      You know what, I’m not going to beat around the bush. If this guy was black, he would have received full rides to any school in the country.

      Oh, and Mayweather needs to stuff a sock in it.

      The guy is going to be a great basketball player and isn’t afraid to share his faith. Maybe not at a Tebow level but still the bottom line is who the hell cares what he looks like?

      We need more Lins and Tebows in our society let alone in our professional sports.

      Report Post » LookTowardsTheLight  
    • Godfather.1
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 10:56am

      @LookTowardsTheLight

      If Tebow were black, he may still be in the NFL because he is an amazing athlete, but he would not likely be a quarterback.

      http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1015234-denver-broncos-quarterback-tim-tebow-would-he-start-if-he-were-black

      Fair warning, this article uses things like statistics and analysis to reach its conclusion so you may have a tough time getting through it.

      Report Post »  
    • LookTowardsTheLight
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 12:06pm

      @Godfather.1

      “Fair warning, this article uses things like statistics and analysis to reach its conclusion so you may have a tough time getting through it.”

      Got jokes, huh? You are posting something from THE BLEACHER REPORT. Yea, real hard fact finding there.

      Oh by the way, learn the definition of PERCEPTION before you open your mouth. Jack ass.

      Report Post » LookTowardsTheLight  
    • LookTowardsTheLight
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 12:53pm

      @@Godfather.1

      Maybe I should have been more specific since you need someone to hold your hand.

      When I stated: “You know what, I’m not going to beat around the bush. If this guy was black, he would have received full rides to any school in the country.”, it‘s not how I feel it’s how most circles would view it. The same can be said about white folks as well.

      Oh yea, didn’t I say who cares what he looks like? We are never going to move on with people like you continuing to drive the “race” car down the road.

      Report Post » LookTowardsTheLight  
  • ThatsJustCrazyTalk
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:20am

    Finally. A good Christian (it looks like) in the NBA. No bankruptcy, no drugs, no violence, no promiscuous behavior, etc. Let’s just pray that the NBA (popularity) demons don’t get to him, too.

    Report Post »  
  • On The Bayou
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:50am

    I`m calling on Obama to do something about the skill level of Lin.

    Report Post » On The Bayou  
    • TomFerrari
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 8:07am

      good one!

      After all, Lin makes the rest of us FEEL BAD about ourselves.
      It isn’t FAIR.
      We need to take some of his points and give them to those who don’t score enough.
      After all, it isn’t their fault. They are VICTIMS, don’cha know?

      Report Post » TomFerrari  
  • TEE-PAR-TEE
    Posted on February 15, 2012 at 7:45am

    He’s had a really good 6 game run, and he has been a blast to watch, BUT… it’s too early to consider him an “NBA STAR” until he’s had at least four illegitimate kids with 2 or more mothers.
    Just something else to shoot for Jeremy; go get ‘em.

    Report Post » TEE-PAR-TEE  
    • T-2
      Posted on February 15, 2012 at 11:16am

      lol, he needs a neck tattoo too

      Report Post »  

Sign In To Post Comments! Sign In

Sign Up For Our Newsletter!

Glenn Beck Radio

Listen to Glenn Beck 24/7 Listen Now
Restoring Love