Mavericks-Knicks Preview

By ALAN FERGUSON
Posted Feb 18 2012 11:57PM

After experiencing his first loss as an NBA starter, New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin might get some help.

There's at least a slight chance that Baron Davis and J.R. Smith could be added to the rotation Sunday afternoon when New York hosts the Dallas Mavericks, who will try to add to both their longest winning streak of the season and their recent mastery of the Knicks.

Lin has become a national sensation since he first scored 25 points off the bench in a 99-92 win over New Jersey on Feb. 4, then led New York (15-16) to six more victories in a row while in the starting lineup.

The former Harvard standout totaled 136 points in his first five starts, the most by any player since the NBA-ABA merger in 1976, and he had 26 against visiting New Orleans on Friday. However, he also committed nine turnovers - tied for the most in the league this season - in the Knicks' 89-85 defeat.

"Just a lackluster effort on my part coming out and careless with the ball, and so nine turnovers is obviously never going to get it done from your primary ballhandler," Lin said. "It's on me in terms of taking care of the ball and also the game in general."

While Lin tries to bounce back, Davis and Smith have a chance to make their New York debuts Sunday.

New York inked Davis to a one-year deal Dec. 19 but a herniated disc in his back has kept him from playing. The veteran guard might remain out until after next weekend's All-Star break.

"He's close. He could go. I think he could play (Sunday)," coach Mike D'Antoni said. "We'll see, but I want to work him a little bit gradually."

The Knicks signed Smith, who had been playing in China after five seasons in Denver, on Friday but D'Antoni said his preference is for the swingman not to play before he's had a chance to practice.

Smith, though, is reportedly in shape and D'Antoni says he "will see what happens."

The Knicks will likely be without All-Star forward Carmelo Anthony for a seventh straight game because of a strained right groin. D'Antoni said it's likely Anthony will return for Monday night's game against New Jersey.

Anthony's absence could give the Mavericks a prime opportunity for a seventh consecutive win overall and a season-high fourth in a row on the road.

Dallas (20-11) has also won 17 of its last 19 meetings with the Knicks and five straight at MSG. Dirk Nowitzki's 29.4 scoring average there since the beginning of the 2001-02 season is his best in any road arena.

Nowitzki had 29 points and 11 rebounds in a 113-97 win at MSG last February, and was one of three Mavericks to score at least 20 along with Shawn Marion and Jason Terry in a 127-109 home victory March 10 as Dallas swept the season series.

Nowitzki is averaging 24.3 points on 50.0 percent shooting over his last eight games. He scored 24 of his 28 points in the second half Friday to rally Dallas from a 15-point deficit for an 82-75 win at Philadelphia.

"I had a couple go in, and we all know when a shooter sees a couple go in, the confidence goes up," Nowitzki said. "I knew in the second half I was going to come out and keep firing. I'm glad they went in."

Terry did not play Friday due to "a personal situation" according to coach Rick Carlisle, and also missed Wednesday's victory over Denver due to a strained right quad, but is expected to return Sunday.

Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who started 74 games for the Mavericks in 2010-11, is expected to be in the lineup to face his former team for the first time since a three-team trade Dec. 10.

Jeremy Lin, as in win, sends Knicks past Mavericks

By BRIAN MAHONEY
Posted Feb 19 2012 7:20PM

NEW YORK (AP) Linsanity lives.

Forget the off night that had NBA fans worldwide wondering if the Jeremy Lin story was too good to be true. It's still plenty good, all right.

The Harvard sensation was back at his whirling ways Sunday, and the stage couldn't have been better - against the defending champions on national TV.

Lin was Lin, and that was good enough for the New York Knicks to win.

Hours after the opening of "Saturday Night Live" spoofed the Lin phenomenon, the point guard had 28 points and a career-high 14 assists to carry the Knicks to a 104-97 victory that ended the Dallas Mavericks' six-game winning streak.

"Looking back, it's like I was watching them win the championship last year, and that's obviously where this team wants to go," Lin said.

"This 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 tonight," he said.

Lin already owns the highlights and headlines, and now he has some new admirers after bouncing back from a nine-turnover performance against lowly New Orleans by dominating a Dallas defense that made even LeBron James look ordinary in the NBA finals.

After the final buzzer, Lin got a hug from a fellow Bay Area product, and someone who knows a thing or two about playing the point - Mavs star Jason Kidd

"He looks a little bit like Steve Nash out there," Kidd said, referring to the two-time MVP of the Phoenix Suns.

In a game of wild momentum swings, the Knicks reeled off 17 straight points in the first quarter, fell behind by 12 in the third, then pulled it out to beat the Mavericks for only the third time in the last 20 meetings.

"I think they found something in Lin, and they're starting to piece together a team that can beat anyone," Mavs guard Jason Terry said.

Steve Novak also delivered for the Knicks. He scored all 14 of his points in the fourth quarter, including four 3s. J.R. Smith scored 15 points in his Knicks debut as New York won for the eighth time in nine games.

Dirk Nowitzki scored a season-high 34 points for the Mavericks, who had been playing championship-level defense but became the latest team who couldn't stop Lin.

"I was talking to them before the game and they were saying they had an answer for Lin," said Knicks center Tyson Chandler, who played for the Mavs last season, "I guess they were dead wrong on their scouting report."

Playing for the seventh straight game without the injured Carmelo Anthony, the Knicks got a huge lift from Smith, signed just Friday after returning from China.

Coach Mike D'Antoni had previously said Smith wouldn't play Sunday since he hadn't practiced yet. But when swingman Bill Walker also had to sit out with an injury, D'Antoni needed someone at that position, and Smith hit three of the Knicks' 12 3-pointers.

"First five minutes was really mind blowing," Smith said. "First thing I was thinking was don't airball your first shot. You never live that down in New York City. So once I made my first one, that really got me going."

Lin's turnovers Friday night matched the most in the NBA this season Friday in an 89-85 loss to New Orleans that stopped a seven-game winning streak. He had seven more Sunday and has committed six or more in six straight games, but D'Antoni said Saturday he wanted Lin to keep taking risks.

That paid off Sunday, when Lin got the Knicks back into a game that had seemed to be getting away in the third quarter, before shooters all around him got going in the fourth.

"I thought we had the game under control," Nowitzki said. "And then the fourth quarter, that really got the crowd back into it."

Novak made four 3-pointers in about 4 1/2 minutes of the fourth quarter, then Lin buried one to give the Knicks a 90-81 lead with 6:51 remaining. The Mavs got it back down to two on Terry's 3-pointer with 3:26 left, but Lin answered with a 3, and the Mavs couldn't get closer than three again. Lin shot 11 of 20 overall.

Chandler capped it off with a dunk and finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds.

The Mavs came in holding opponents to an NBA-low 41.4 percent shooting. They were limiting teams to 39.2 percent during the winning streak, but the Knicks carved them up for 54 percent in the first quarter as Lin ran the offense flawlessly.

Lin actually started his NBA career with the Mavs' summer league team in 2010. But owner Mark Cuban said Lin preferred to play closer to home, and he signed with the Warriors, who cut him, as did Houston in December. The Knicks claimed him off waivers.

"It wasn't luck because there were how many other teams that could have signed Jeremy and the Knicks were the ones who went out and got him," Cuban said. "So they saw something and they were smart enough to go out and get him."

Friday's loss may have ended the Knicks' winning streak, but certainly not the buzz around Lin. Sunday's crowd included Kevin Costner, Eva Longoria, Spike Lee - wearing Lin's No. 4 Harvard jersey - and another famous Harvard product, Facebook head Mark Zuckerberg. Lin's high school coach from Palo Alto (Calif.) High School also made the trip.

Notes: Baron Davis was in uniform for the Knicks but didn't play. He expects to make his season debut this week. ... Cuban, on the decision not to re-sign Chandler, whose left wrist was hurting a bit after a hard fall: "We wouldn't have been champions without Tyson. He's a phenomenal player, he's got incredible heart, he's amazing in the locker room and that's why we went out and got him. But the CBA changed everything and you have to adjust how you build and grow and maintain a team and try to win championship. So we did what we felt we had to do, not because we wanted to do it."

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Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney

Notebook: Knicks 104, Mavericks 97

Posted Sunday February 19, 2012 4:42PM

By Adam Zagoria, for NBA.com

THE FACTS: Jeremy Lin continued his magical ride by tallying 28 points and 14 assists and J.R. Smith and Steve Novak combined for 29 points off the bench as the Knicks won for the eighth time in nine games, 104-97 over the defending NBA champion Dallas Mavericks at Madison Square Garden.

Dirk Nowitzki had a game-high 34 points for the Mavericks, who saw their six-game winning streak snapped.

Suiting up for the first time since signing with the Knicks on Friday after playing in China, Smith scored 15 points off the bench, going 3-for-9 from deep.

Novak scored all 14 of his points in the second half and went 4-for-5 from beyond the arc.

QUOTABLE: "The game that he had, that's ridiculous...The thing you can't teach is what's inside his heart. His heart is huge and you can't teach that."
-- Knicks head coach Mike D'Antoni on Lin.

THE STAT: The Knicks' bench outscored the Mavs' bench, 33-23, and all three reserves were at least +17. Jared Jeffries and Novak were both +17, and Smith +21. Entering the game, D'Antoni wasn't sure if he was going to play Smith at all but inserted him after Iman Shumpert picked up two quick fouls.

QUOTABLE II: "With J.R. in there we kind of had no plays. I kind of liked it that way, it's hard to scout. I was waiting for another team to say, 'I got next.'"
-- D'Antoni.

TURNING POINT: Trailing 80-78 midway through the fourth, the Knicks rattled off a 12-1 run keyed by four 3-pointers -- three from Novak and one from Lin -- to go ahead 90-81. They never relinquished the lead. After Dallas closed to within 95-93 on a Jason Terry 3-pointer with 3:26 left, Lin drained a deep shot of his own over Nowitzki to make it 98-93 with 2:52 remaining.

QUOTABLE III: "Novak was a big part of that [run]. He hit a big three. He's playing great. He's a great shooter."
-- D'Antoni.

WHO'S HOT: Novak, the former Marquette star, has scored 14 points in two of his last games, wins over Sacramento and Dallas. He went 7-for-12 from deep in those games, sandwiched around a 2-for-9 shooting performance in Friday's loss to New Orleans.

WHO'S NOT: Lamar Odom went 1-for-6 for two points and six rebounds off the bench for Dallas. He went 2-for-5 for five points and three rebounds two nights ago in the win over Philadelphia.

QUOTABLE IV: "They're obviously a great defensive team, a great team altogether. You can't just win a championship by not being a great defensive team. We came out and we moved the ball and we had a lot of people that contributed tonight. Across the board the efficiency was there from everybody. When you play like that on offense and you have a lot of weapons, something's going to open up, something's going to give."
-- Lin.

NOTABLE: Mike Sapraicone of Seaford, N.Y. banked in a half-court shot at the buzzer to win a Kia Optima.

NOTABLE II: Smith said he chose the Knicks over the Clippers and Lakers after talking to Carmelo Anthony "twice." The Garden State native loves D'Antoni's fast-paced system and wanted to play in front of family and friends in New York. "It was really a no-brainer," he said. "It was a perfect situation for me."

INSIDE THE ARENA: Eva Longoria, Kevin Costner, Mark Zuckerberg and Willie Randolph and Seth Meyers caught the Linsanity courtside.

UP NEXT: For the Knicks, Monday vs. Nets, Wednesday vs. Hawks, Thursday @ Heat . For the Mavericks, Monday vs. Boston, Wednesday vs. Lakers, Feb. 28 vs. Nets.

• Mavericks: West, Williams
• Knicks: Anthony, Harrellson

• Mavericks: --
• Knicks: --

• Lead Changes: 6
• Times Tied: 7

• Arena: Madison Square Garden, New York, NY
• Officials: #13 Monty McCutchen, #63 Derek Richardson, #59 Gary Zielinski
• Attendance: 19763
• Duration: 2:26