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Lin, Knicks rout Kings for 7th straight win

Feb 16, 2012 - 5:40 AM New York, NY (Sports Network) - Jeremy Lin had the ball in the air before Landry Fields even made his move.

Taking off from outside the paint, Fields caught the pass two-handed near the right baseline and finished off a thunderous alley-oop dunk.

The play, coming near the end of a highlight-filled first half at Madison Square Garden on Wednesday night, showed that Linsanity is still evolving after days of drooling punditry and seven blink-and-you'll-miss games.

It is, in its most recent form, a democracy.

Lin set a career-high in assists for the second straight day, handing out nine of his 13 helpers in the first half as the New York Knicks built a big lead on the way to a 100-85 win over the Sacramento Kings.

The Knicks have won seven games in a row for the first time since last season, all with big contributions from the former benchwarmer and new starting point guard.

Wednesday's runaway win came one night after Lin, with a then-career high 11 assists, kept the ball himself and buried a game-winning three-pointer with 0.5 seconds left in Toronto.

He only played three quarters in this one, scoring 10 points and sitting the entire fourth in a lopsided win.

"That's great on a night like that," said Knicks coach Mike D'Antoni. "The next game he might score 30. Whatever we need to win, he'll do."

The Knicks had seven scorers in double figures and improved to 15-15, reaching .500 for the first time since they were 6-6 after a loss at Oklahoma City on January 14.

Amare Stoudemire had 11 points in his second game back and Fields led New York with 15 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

The Kings, one night after setting a season-high with 115 points in a loss to the Bulls, scored 30 fewer in their third straight setback. Tyreke Evans led them with 19 points and DeMarcus Cousins scored 15.

"We just didn't run our plays all the way through," said Evans. "It was just like one-on-one basketball."

Prior to halftime, Field told a sideline reporter for MSG that dunking on an alley-oop feels a little bit like flying.

With Lin running the point, the Knicks are soaring.

While retailers struggle to keep No. 17 Knicks jerseys on their shelves, NBA defenses are having a hard time keeping up with the guy who wears the threads as his job.

Lin had five points and six assists in the first quarter, slipping between Kings players to score when he could see a shot and finding the open man when he couldn't.

"We need to make sure we put our egos aside," said Lin. "When we put our egos aside and buy into coach D'Antoni's system, we're going to win."

Among his assists were alley-oop passes to Fields and Tyson Chandler for dunks and an underhand pass to Stoudemire for a layup that capped a 12-0 run and gave the Knicks a 17-7 lead.

New York was up 25-17 going into the second. Lin and Chandler, finding a rapport, hooked up for another alley-oop to make it 40-30 and Lin's pass to a streaking Fields for the baseline jam gave the Knicks a 17-point lead later on.

"We came in today knowing in a back-to-back we had to come out with energy and we really did that," said Fields. "We try not to get complacent. We want to build off this and keep getting better."

Always pushing, as he has since coming off the bench to score 25 points in a win over the Nets on February 4 that started New York's current streak, Lin drove with seconds left in the half to find Chandler underneath for another dunk to give the Knicks a 54-36 lead at halftime.

The advantage reached as high as 25 points in the third quarter and ballooned to 28 in the fourth.

Lin, sitting down on the bench for some well-deserved rest, was seen sharing a laugh with injured Knicks star Carmelo Anthony, who hopes to be back soon from a groin strain.

Those who have worried how the Knicks will play with Lin and Anthony sharing time might be assuaged knowing the players themselves are looking forward to it.

"We were just having fun and talking about how we're both excited for when he comes back," said Lin.

Game Notes

Lin has 146 points in his first six starts and 171 points in the seven games since he started seeing a lot of playing time...The Knicks also beat the Kings on New Year's Eve in Sacramento. Their last seven-game winning streak was between March 28 and April 10 last year...New York started a five-game homestand...The Kings are 0-2 on a six-game road trip.